


Connecting Endlessly

by Dumbtard (sophiethung)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Post-Apocalypse, Based on the MVs for Monster and Lucky One, Betrayal, Gen, Heavy Angst, Human Experimentation, Hurt/Comfort, Jealous Park Chanyeol, Jealousy, Mentioned OT12, Near Death Experiences, Past Kim Joonmyun | Suho/Wu Yi Fan | Kris, Past Lu Han/ Oh Sehun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-06
Updated: 2018-01-30
Packaged: 2019-01-30 07:00:40
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 58,226
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12648525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sophiethung/pseuds/Dumbtard
Summary: Sobs rack his body as he gasps for air, his lungs burning and water pooling in his eyes. His legs tremble beneath him, barely strong enough to hold his meager weight. He wants to cry out for help, but he knows there’s no one left to answer him. He doesn’t even know if any of them are alive...Chanyeol groans softly as he slides to the floor, the cool surface of the white wall soothing against his back. Tears fall onto his knees, washing away the remnants of blood.He’s never going to make it out of here.(Based on the MVs for Monster and Lucky One)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!!!!  
> So imma warn you all, though I did that before - this fic is super angsty, with a lot of blood and violence.

First, their home burned. They’d been on an away mission - twelve fully trained soldiers, faces bright at the aspect of returning home to their warm, familiar beds and the rolling fields of dying grass in the hot summer winds. Laughter had filled the rusty, old ship that held them, old inside jokes so often repeated over the years, a group of friends happy to be safe after a harsh battle. Exhaustion hung over them, mingling with the pretense of energy that they managed to uphold so far.

Their leader laughed, his smile brightening the room infinitely, for he was not one to indulge his friends often. He kept his gaze fixed on the controls, fingers gripping the wheel tightly, but he knew exactly what went on the back. Then, through the dirty, brown window he saw something approaching their planet rapidly, leaving a trail of smoke behind as it soared closer to the yellowing, dusty globe. His brow furrowed, his smile faded, alarming his best friend beside him. The man’s brain worked quickly, but he could not even exclaim in distress as the rocket slammed into the planet. Despair slammed through him, for he always processed things quickest, and he knew his mind was not deceiving him. There, in front of him, was his home, the place he was born and raised, crumbling apart in a raging fire, all his friends, superiors and subordinates burning with it.

Silence filled the cabin, its threatening air a stark difference from the excited voiced that had been in its place not a moment earlier. They watched as dust and flames sprung up, rushing towards the moons and the establishments, obliterating them within seconds. Everything moved agonizingly slow, creating the illusion there would have been time for anyone to get away. Their leader clenched his teeth because he knew what was going to happen next. One of them, likely the square-faced, kind lightning wielder or the thoughtless bringer of light, was going to rush forward, screaming for him to speed forward in attempt to save anyone he felt may have survived. The leader would have had to explain that there was no way anyone would have survived, that they’d only put themselves in danger if they went any closer, that protocol demanded they act differently, all while keeping his face in ploy and keeping from weeping along with his friends. But they didn’t. They stayed silent, their leader’s silence enough for them to realize that there was nobody to rescue, enough for them to realize that they were the only ones left within a matter of seconds. Their friends. Their family. All gone.

Protocol stated that any survivors were to head to the nearest inhabited planet - which happened to be Earth. They'd grown up hearing stories about the great planet Earth. A place bigger than their own with friendly people who, though maybe not as advanced as themselves, were smart and accepting of new things. Green covered their planet, according to their intelligence agencies, and with great seas of blue. A place where they could be safe. A place which was how their home should have been, had it not been struck by disaster years earlier.

They were wrong to go there. They found a desolated place, with nothing but barren lands and people meaning to do them harm. They found a people broken by endless wars and plague that had swept their homes, taking and taking more lives than they could count. These people were broken, and in their brokenness, they became wicked. The twelve were captured and put into a maze.

The maze. Monsters and shifting walls, screams filling their ears as they fail to find the others. Sobs racking their bodies as they run through narrow corridors and past traps made to kill them. Thick, concrete walls built to trap them, to push them to their deaths. One day. That was how long they spent there. It felt like weeks. The dusty floor that was splattered with blood, and tangled hair that clung to their sweat-beaded faces. The horrors they encountered in that maze robbed them of sleep, maybe for the rest of their lives. It convinced them that good was no longer a phenomenon that was known in this world.

They lost three of their own that day. Four of their smartest, their most experienced fighters found one another, and they set off together. Only one made it to the center.

Their youngest was sobbing when he came running, panicking and screaming at them to go back, to find the others. Tears were streaming down his face, the terror in his eyes the likes of which not even their eldest had seen in his years of living. He begged and pleaded to go back. Two went, but they found nothing but mangled bodies, twisted and ripped beyond recognition.

When they thought the worst was over they were separated and tested on. They were dragged apart, kicking and yelling like children being separated from their favorite place. Desperate hands held together as long as possible were pried apart, their captors not caring for their well being. They've lost the amount of times they've been made to use their powers in impossible conditions, or cut up for the sake of science. The white walls of this place will haunt their nightmares forever. The scars that litter their bodies are from the countless times they’ve been ripped apart and put back together, the redness in their eyes from the odd concoctions injected into their bloodstreams, their weary bones tired of drawing on a power that was never theirs in the first place.

* * *

 

“No!” Chanyeol shouts, struggling in the hold of two massive men, reaching out his hand as far as he can. He kicks, wiggles, but the men clad in black, their masks stoic as ever only showing him his own face. He strains, desperately wishing his strength is as it used to be. He used to be able to fight of five men at once, but now he’s weak against these two filthy humans. “Lay!”

He can only watch as Lay’s limp body - blood dripping from his matted, black hair, and eyes rolled back into his head, leaving only the whites behind - is dragged out of the room. He was punished because he couldn’t heal Chanyeol’s broken leg. He was just too tired. Chanyeol doesn’t blame him, but he does blame himself. He has to live with the fact that it’s his fault Lay may be dead now. The heavy, grey doors billow open, blowing a gust of wind in Chanyeol’s face, before closing again, leaving him feeling emptier than ever.

Once Lay is carried away, Chanyeol grows slack in the arms of the guards, head hanging low as he desperately keeps himself together. It’s okay, he tells himself, Lay’s just unconscious. He takes a deep breath, closing his eyes and counting. Stay calm. He knows this to be true, but he’s worried about further tasks he’ll have to do. Chanyeol could tell that when Lay was on the other side of the room, he was barely standing. Exhaustion must be looming over Lay more than anyone else, Chanyeol guesses. Lay’s had to heal just about anyone with an injury that can’t be healed within a few days. He feels tired enough to let himself be dragged to the hard, uncomfortable bed with the scratchy white sheets that barely provide warmth in these cold corridors.

He wonders, briefly, if he looks the same as Lay - frail, clammy skin stretched over bones, sunken eyes with dark circles and a pale, sweaty body. A tired gaze held with eyes that can barely stay open, boring into one another with a meaning deeper than words could ever convey. They tell Chanyeol one thing; _survive._ Chanyeol isn’t sure he can, but he’ll try his best if it means that the others stay alive with him. One thing’s for sure though; Lay isn’t going to last much longer unless their captors treat him.

Same goes for Chanyeol, just because he can’t run with a broken leg and if he can’t run he’s as good as dead. But that threat is not as imminent. Besides, it’s not like he wasn’t trained with this sort of stuff. As long as he’s not put into that fucking maze again, he should be alright for now.

“Subject number sixty-one,” a female voice says over the comm. Chanyeol bows his head in acknowledgement, desperate to have the fiery pain in his leg fixed. He knows that whoever played the announcement can see him, either through the cameras installed on the guard’s helmet or the cameras that seem to litter just about corner, covering every blind spot there could be. “Report to bay fifty-four for immediate treatment.” A long buzz follows the voice, telling Chanyeol the announcement is over. That’s good. That means he’s the only one injured. Except of all the others are injured like Lay, meaning they don’t bother with a comm and bring them straight to the bay. Still, Chanyeol figures his captors are smart enough not to injure all of them simultaneously. There’d be no one to test.

He doesn’t resist when one of the hyperrealistic droids - a female-looking one wearing a plain white uniform and a red shield over her eyes - pushes him into a wheelchair, her cold hands brushing over the burning skin of his neck. He feels hot, sweat beading on his forehead and his head swimming with every move he makes. He whines softly when his leg is thrown up into a hold, no amount of gentleness used. The droid regards him for a second with a cold eye, reminding Chanyeol that humans are incredibly smart and that droids with artificial intelligence and emotion are possibly the scariest things in this galaxy. He tugs his coat close as the droid takes her place behind him, her heels clicking on the tiled floor eerily.

It’s always so quiet in these halls.

He’s pushed into the halfway, past white, stone walls lined with heavy, metal doors that lead to one experiment room after another. His equally white boots scrape over the white floor, the only sounds passing the clicking of the droid’s heels against the stone.The stinging smell of chlorine invaded his nose, but Chanyeol’s eyes don’t water anymore. He’s learned not to breathe too much when he’s in these halls, anyway. At first the smell terrified him. It reminded him of the days he was assigned to clean the morgue. It didn’t take him very long to realize that this place wasn’t very different.

For a second, he thinks he spots Suho’s terrified face in one of the windows, his breath ghosting over the glass, staining it white, but it’s gone in a flash and Chanyeol isn’t sure if he’s still entirely sane. His heart pounds wildly in his chest, and his throat tightens. The droid pushes him along.

What he does see - and he’s certain about it - is Jongin being led to another experiment room. Chanyeol’s gaze meets his, and his eyes grow wide. Chanyeol hasn’t seen Jongin in weeks, but he knows that this isn’t what he looked like before. A once sturdy body with beautifully sculpted muscles now looks frail and weak. It’s sickening to see - that they’ve broken Jongin’s body to this extent. Chanyeol always hoped Jongin would stay beautiful, mainly as a sort of “fuck you” to the droids, but now all he sees is a broken body wearing the face of his friend.

Chanyeol wants to shout out, let Jongin know he’s okay, to ask Jongin how he’s doing, but he fears the droid behind him and Jongin is gone too fast for him to form a sentence. Chanyeol mentally slaps himself for hesitating so much.

He's brought to the room that's brighter than all the others ones, with five beds lined up against the wall. The large windows reveal the maze of identical, square rooms that is the laboratory, and Chanyeol can see where certain rooms have been charred, desolated and blown apart.

His power - fire - is the most unpredictable and destructive, along with Jongdae' lightning. The difference between Jongdae and Chanyeol, however, is that Jongdae can actually control his powers. Chanyeol has destroyed at least twenty rooms in the months that they've spent in this facility, and probably around a hundred droids have perished in his fires. Sometimes he does it on purpose, just for the hell of it, but doing so has become increasingly exhausting. Using his power used to give him a sort of thrill, like his blood rushed through his veins just a little faster and his body responded just a little better, but that’s been taking from him, too - just like almost everything else. Chanyeol bites his lip, memories rushing back to him.

Blood on his hands. Blood in his clothes. Tears streaming down their faces as they wept. It’s not his own blood.

_Stop._

"Hold out your arm," a droid - identical to every other one in this building - says. Chanyeol starts, startled by the droid’s presence, though he’s sure she’s been there the whole time. He hesitates, his hands still shaky and uncertain, but then he removes his snowy white jacket, folding it neatly in his lap. He rolls up his sleeve, frowning slightly. He’s able to push it all the way up to his biceps, which is something that didn’t happen before.

He sighs.

He doesn't flinch when the needle is prodded into his skin, because he doesn't feel it anymore. Chanyeol feels like laughing for just a second, because he’s honestly pretty pathetic at this point. He wonders if this is what drug addicts feel like - constantly having needles in their arms and not feeling a thing when as drug drips into their bloodstream. That's not entirely true. He feels his limbs grow heavy and numb, as the room starts to sway and his vision starts to blur. Time slows around him, the droid’s voice slowing around him as she spouts out an endless stream of numbers. It reminds him - though vaguely - of a time when slowing time was met with laughter and not a rush of fear.

What do those numbers even mean? Is she counting down or something?

His head droops and his eyes start to flutter shut. He's soon unable to make a coherent thought. Just before he passes out, however, he can another bed is wheeled into the room. Somewhere in the back of his mind, worry fights to keep him awake. He loses the fight, and drifts into a deep sleep.

* * *

 

Chanyeol wakes, all the pain in his leg gone and bright lights blinding him. He struggles to remember where he is for a moment, his mind only bringing him images of home. Home isn't this bright, he tell himself. Home was kind to him, and his friends. Home didn’t fucking blind him whenever he woke.

His vision blurs, and Chanyeol groans softly, bile rising in his throat. Chanyeol swallows it back down and coughs, the horribly sour taste remaining on his tongue.

He's in the med-bay, the main one above all the experiment rooms. Next to him, sitting upright and nervously fidgeting with his uniform is Sehun. Wait, is it? Chanyeol's eyes quickly scan over the number of his collar. There, in red on the white cloth, is ninety-four - the number assigned to Sehun.

"Chanyeol?" says Sehun. He sounds scared, his voice small and trembling, his hands clamming and stiff. His shoulders hunched over, his head hung low like he’s afraid he’ll get his if he moves so much as an inch. The ugly dark circles under his eyes stand out harshly against the skin that was once beautifully fair but now ashen, deadly.  It's strange to see him like this, though nobody's actually been any different since they got here. The few times Chanyeol's actually gotten to see anyone in the past few months, it'd been fleeting and unfulfilling, so he doesn't waste any time with Sehun. Not that he would want to.

He surges off his bed, ignoring the way his head swims and the lingering pain that suddenly flares up in his newly-healed bones, and stepping towards Sehun, who flinches a little when Chanyeol approaching without caution. It hurts Chanyeol to see him like this, scared of anything bigger than himself. Sehun was so audacious before they came here.

Chanyeol bites his lip, a compulsion he’s found to be quite rewarding when he needed to be strong. And he needs to be strong now, because that’s how he’ll get Sehun on his feet again. Despite his heart feeling like it’s going to implode, Chanyeol sits next to Sehun on the hard, uncomfortable bed, his skin crawling at the frigid air that hasn’t left Sehun in months.

There's no droids in the room, so he decides it's worth the risk. He wraps his arms around Sehun's shoulders, scooting close and relishing in the fact that Sehun doesn't smell like bleach or chlorine, unlike everything else in this place. He sighs, his chest flooding with relief, worry and grief all at the same time. Fuck, it hurts.

"Jesus, Sehun," Chanyeol breathes as his fingers graze over Sehun's side and he feels every individual rib. "You can't keep this up." Sehun rears back suddenly, pulling himself out of Chanyeol’s embrace and startling him.

"Neither can you!" Sehun yelps defiantly, eyes still blazing with the same fire they always had. Wind tickles Chanyeol's neck as tears form in Sehun's eyes. If the droids find out Sehun’s been using his power without permission, they’ll surely kill him. Chanyeol holds up his hand in probably an odd-looking attempt to show his surrender. The wind kicks up once again, the fire in Sehun’s eyes gleaming once, before he sits. Sehun takes a deep breath, before turning to Chanyeol with those sad, miserable eyes. It’s a plea, Chanyeol realizes. He doesn’t know what to do, so he lets Sehun talk, resting his hand on those awfully bony thighs.  "Everyone else is at the end of their lines, Suho and Jongdae especially."

"Wait, what happened to them?" Sehun has the most access to the others, Chanyeol knows. He envies him, sometimes, since he hasn’t seen some of his members since they got here. He shakes the thought from his head. No use resenting Sehun now. He's probably allowed to see one of them at least every day, Chanyeol estimates.

Sehun's expression is somber, his brow turned up and his lower lip jutting out in that way they grew so familiar during their time in the barracks, and Chanyeol's chest fills with worry.

"Are they alright?"

"Jongdae collapsed two days ago and Suho hasn't eaten anything in ages. Kyungsoo is currently being tested the most, but he's fine."

Chanyeol bites his lip. If Jongdae collapsed, that means they worked him too much. It's difficult to say just what they did to him, seeing as it takes a lot to get Jongdae exhausted, but using his powers really drains him. Either they went overboard with the experiments, or they made him produce lightning too much. Chanyeol presses his fingers into the palm of his hand, nervously rubbing the scar that hasn’t properly healed yet - a result of both his own recklessness and Lay’s exhaustion. He feels useless, like this. Having to hear everything from Sehun tears a hole in his chest, leaving his gasping for air. He wants to be with his friends!

"Lay's been carried off as well. They punished him when he couldn't heal my leg. What about the others?" Stay calm, Chanyeol. He hasn't seen most of them in a long, long time. According to Kyungsoo's earlier assessments, Chanyeol gets to see the others the least. In some ways, it's a consolation to know that there's nobody more deprived of contact than he is. Still, he'd like to be there to protect the others - especially Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. Not that they're not able to handle themselves, but Chanyeol worries all the same. Normally he’d be jealous - he was, for a long time - but jealously won’t help anyone here.

Sehun pouts and leans forward, keeping his hands folded in his lap as he settles his head on Chanyeol’s shoulder, shifting a little when his ear hits Chanyeol’s bone. Chanyeol sighs. This feeling - the one he gets when he’s comforting Sehun - is familiar, but he finds no comfort in it anymore. It used to bring him solace in times where the team felt broken, but now, when it really is broken, he feels nothing but grief.

"Out of everyone," says Sehun, sniffling against Chanyeol's shoulder and keeping his face hidden. It’s kind of cute, to see. But also quite sad, and pathetic that Chanyeol feels powerful, like this. "I think Baek's doing best. Minseok's too cold most of the time, considering they've put him in that box about five times." Chanyeol suppresses a shiver. The box is a sinister, empty room without windows and doors. They'll give a member a sickeningly yellow serum that makes them lose control over their powers completely. If someone were to ask Chanyeol, he’d say it’s the most repulsive, abominable feeling he’s ever felt. The memories of fire spreading through his body, raging over his limbs and breaking through anything that would dare to stand in its way, like a bloodthirsty monster that should be put down. It's the main reason so many rooms are destroyed. It's fucking terrible in those things, not to mention terrifying. "Kyungsoo is tired most of the time, and I think he's closest to his limit. Jongin hasn't talked in days, but other than that he's fine. I'm mostly worried about Suho, though..."

Chanyeol nods. If Suho really isn't eating, that could pose a serious problem. It's one thing to be forced to his limit by someone else, but if he's given up and doing this to himself... the chances of all of them getting out alive will get slimmer and slimmer. That and the unforgiving fact that Suho is the only leader they’ve got left. The others depend on him like they depend on a lifeline. If Suho has given up, then the others are sure to follow.

Chanyeol bites his lip, almost hard enough to draw blood. He understands that Suho lost so much, that he has a huge burden on his shoulder, but he wishes Suho could be stronger. He knows it’s selfish and harsh to have to ask Suho to keep going, but he’s got no other choice. He needs his leader. His friends need their leader. They won’t survive long without him.

They have to get out of here.

"Sehun, you talk to everyone quite regularly, right?" Sehun looks up at him with wide eyes, the surprise evident in his tired face. Chanyeol nervously glances at the door, quickly checking if they're still alone. They are, but Chanyeol knows they’ll storm in once he’s done talking. Not that they’ll know what he said, but they’ll suspect something.

"Except for you, yeah." Sehun’s brow pinches together. He’s probably confused, Chanyeol guesses.

"Good. Tell everyone they need to start gaining weight," Chanyeol says, not exactly sure if he's making sense. He’s probably not. "They won't feed us more unless we get bigger, so tell them to build as much muscle as they can."

Sehun frowns, looking at Chanyeol like he’s lost his mind. Chanyeol isn’t sure he hasn’t. He squeezes Sehun’s knee, desperately needing him to understand.

"Sehun, I need you to listen to me. The next time we see each other - which will probably be in about five weeks - I need them all to be as fit as possible."

"Why?"

Before they'd gotten here, Chanyeol might've rolled his eyes. It's not like Sehun to ask stupid questions. He doesn’t blame him, but it’s getting fucking annoying.

"I was getting to that. We won't survive breaking out of here if everyone is as weak as they are now." Chanyeol watches Sehun's eyes grow even wider and his mouth fall open. He looks like he's about to say something, but then the door clicks open and a droid appears, regarding them with a cold, calculating gaze. Chanyeol swallows, his throat suddenly dry.

Without a word, she steps forward and grabs Chanyeol's bicep, dragging him away from Sehun. There are tears in his eyes, but his face is steely. Sehun is strong. Chanyeol glances at the droid. Her grip is painful, and he’s certain there’ll be bruises there in the morning. Chanyeol stumbles and nearly falls, but he doesn't resist. He'll only get in trouble if he does that. Just before the droid can drag him away entirely, Chanyeol twists around, groaning as his arm gets folded awkwardly, and mouths something to Sehun.

_Tell the others!_

He's not sure if Sehun actually got that, because the droid yanks his arm roughly, forcing him to face the darkened corridor. He hears the doors fall shut behind him, a gentle gust of wind twisting through his sweaty hair. The lifeless droid drags him along, her sinister face as blank as it has ever been. She doesn’t hesitate for a second before the fork in the corridor, turning so the lone door in the middle is to her right.

Chanyeol sucks in a breath. Fuck

They turned left.

The right of this corridors leads to the majority of the laboratory, where most of the observations and known drugs are tested. If that  place is horrible, then the left of this door is hell. It’s where they conduct the experiments - ones they don’t know the outcome to or the ones they know will make the subject lose control. It’s where they keep the maze, where one can hear screams echoing through the halls. There’s a reason the two sections of this awful place is separated by a morgue. He fears for his own life every time he’s brought here, terror seizing through his body. It stiffens his limbs and stops his heart, like a venom flowing through his veins.

Not that they care. Well, they do try to keep the nine of them alive, but that's about as far as their concern goes. Chanyeol still isn't even sure who "they" are. He's seen creepy, red logos everywhere, but that's about as much as they get. The rest is all droids and faceless bodyguards.

M.A.M.A. Those are the letters he keeps seeing everywhere. He wish he knew what they meant, but he's not familiar enough with Earth to know everything. Besides, it seems like it's a pretty secret organization. Still, it seems weird to paste those letters on every box, corner and wall in big, red letters that, after a particularly bad day, look like they’re written in blood.

Chanyeol’s led into a dark room with an illuminated glass box in the middle. He shivers. The lighting in this place is kind of odd. The box has a sinister light shining down on it, not quite making it shine brightly but it does stand out from the rest of the room. The surrounding area is so dark, the light from the box not even reaching a few meters. It’s ominous, really.

The droid points to the box, probably indicating he should get inside.

Chanyeol frowns. It hardly looks like he'll fit. Its sides are barely half a meter in length, and Chanyeol’s fairly certain he’s broader than that. But he goes in anyway, squeezing his shoulders together and sucking in his breath, and somehow they manage to close the door. He can't see anything apart from the hazy glass, but he’s certain there’ll be droids in every corner, along with guards by the doors. He squints, desperate to see,through the glass, but the room's just too dark and the light shining on the box too bright.

But then the glass starts to fog up, and panic seizes Chanyeol's limbs. A strange, blue haze pools around his feet first, before slowly filling up the confining space. Chanyeol chokes, the sickly sweet smell filling his nostrils and cutting off the air to his lungs.

“Hey!” Chanyeol yelps, knocking a flat palm against the glass. “Help, please! Stop!”

It feels as if the space gets smaller and smaller by the second. Nobody comes.

Oh god. They're going to kill him.

He pounds on the glass, screams as he feels the foul gas start to burn in his lungs. His heart's racing and his vision reddens. In a futile attempt to break the glass, Chanyeol punches the glass with all his might. He hisses as his knuckles burn, but he does it again. And again and again until his hands are dripping blood. The glass doesn’t even show as much as a pathetic little scratch.

It's not that anything hurts, but Chanyeol is smart enough to realize that it will. Now the gas may sit uneasily in his body, but he knows it will build and build until he’s forced to give up. That’s just how things work here. He gasps for air as the gas grows heavier and heavier, his head swimming and body too drained to stand upright, had it not been for the imprisonment making it impossible to fall.

Then it burns. Chanyeol feels like he's been set on fire. It's like a million knives slashing over his body, and he cries out. He screams as pain overtakes his entire body, relentless and unforgiving. He screws his eyes shut, not wanting to watch his skin bubble and burn, which is the only thing that could be happening right now. It hurts. Tears stream down his face and sobs rack his body, nose running with blood and a constant screech in his ears.

"Please," he begs, clawing desperately at the glass. "AH! Please... make i-ah! Make it stop!" It feels like his bones are breaking all over again, like every fibre of his being is being twisted and beaten by something too powerful. He hangs his head against the glass. He can’t do this.

"Trial one successful," a droid says somewhere to his left, the sound oddly muted. Chanyeol can't see her, but he doesn't care. It doesn't stop burning and his mind grows foggy and slow. He sobs. He just wants it to stop. His vision fades and his thoughts slip.

But, though very slowly, the pain fades. It leaves Chanyeol sagging against the glass, panting heavily and tears streaming down his face. The burning hate that remains is entirely his own.

"Trials successful for every living subject. Alpha-E approved for usage."

Somewhere, in the back of his mind, Chanyeol registers what this means. It fuels his hate and his eyes fly open against his will.

Well... fuck. They really, really need to get out of here.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I edited this chapter, too

"Why do you think they're doing all this to us?" Jongin says one night, when all except Chanyeol are allowed to be in the same room. He runs a hand through his stringy hair, attempting to meet the gaze of every one of his friends, but failing quite miserably. A gloom has befallen the room, and Jongin really is trying his hardest to make the best of the time they have left.

It's rare for them all to be together like this; usually it's just two or three together at a time - stolen moments in between experiments and tests or afterwards, when they’re wounded and scared, lying in the rigid beds of the medbay. Still, more words are said in those moments, for they always feel rushed and too finite.

They've stopped wondering why Chanyeol isn't allowed to be with them, as it's fairly obvious now. The somber faces and lingering silence after every word is a result of his absence.  Chanyeol, along with Baekhyun, is an optimist - always laughing and smiling and lifting the corners of many mouths - and the group just can't be relaxed without him. All knowing fully he’s _alive_ out there. It’s something Jongin has always envied about Chanyeol, the way he so effortlessly is the brightest part of everyone’s lives. Baekhyun does it, too, but not as magnificently as Chanyeol. Besides, Baekhyun hasn't spoken much to anyone lately, always just mumbling to himself in response to a question posed. Jongin understands - none of them are really in the mood to be talking about anything in particular.

They're in Baekhyun's cell, which is the largest. There's barely room for several uncomfortable chairs and the standard, creaky bed. The ugly grey walls and dim lights mixed in with the awfully intruding stench of chlorine doesn't make for a great mood-maker, but Jongin is just glad so many of them are together like this.

"Isn't it obvious?" asks Lay, brow furrowing as he takes his head from Sehun’s lap, hand snaking quietly to his own waist. He shakes his head and messes up his hair with his free hand, an old quirk that manages to make Jongin smile just a little. "We're weapons."

"Yeah," says Minseok, leaning his elbows on his knees and resting his chin in his palm. His intelligent eyes fall to the floor, the shadows augmenting the dark circles under them. His blue lips still quiver a little, a result of the copious amounts of stress put on him. Jongin feels sorry for Minseok especially - he can’t imagine the burden placed on him. He knows Minseok feels responsible, but he hides his feelings well. "But then why do all these experiments? Wouldn't it be smarter just to train us?"

"No," says Lay, shaking his head and looking down in his folded hands. Jongin shakes his head, amazed how quickly and clearly Lay can think. He can almost see his mind working in the usually happy eyes that now gaze coldly at the door. "I get the idea that Earth hasn't discovered other non-humans except for us. They're running these tests because we're still an unknown factor, and they need to know how to control us." Jongin nods. It makes sense.

"But they've been at it for months now," Suho says, stuffing his face with a piece of stale bread Chanyeol stole last week. Suho doesn’t look like he’s enjoying it very much, but the team insisted that he ate, so he did. It would be a waste to let a stolen ration Chanyeol risked his ass for be thrown away. Still, Jongin can’t imagine is tastes very well. They had to scrape the mold off beforehand, and even the fresher bread here tastes bland and dry.

Sehun's the only one who's seen Chanyeol in the last three months, but apparently he has a plan. Jongin can’t imagine it’s a good one. The only other contact he's had with anyone was when he somehow managed to leave the bread and a note in Baekhyun's room. Jongin is just glad to see Suho eating again, though he would love to know how Chanyeol manages to get around so quietly.

"That's because they still haven't figured us out. _We_ haven't figured us out," says Minseok, fingers kneading into Jongdae's shoulders. Jongdae is situated between his legs, his shoulder blades pressing against the edge of the chair and his hands wrapped snugly under Minseok’s legs and onto his knees.  "They're discovering things about us that we didn't even know. Along with that, they're developing means of controlling us. That drug two weeks ago was just the beginning, I'm sure."

The room stills at the mention of the drugs - not that it was very loud in the first place. It’s like a ripple that passes through them, filling them all with the fresh memories and speckling their skin with goosebumps.

They all went through it - that horrible box in the middle of a dark room, and five trials of having their own powers turned against them. For most, it didn't do much except hurt. The droids nearly declared Jongin's trial unsuccessful because apparently it didn't really do much except make it seem like a defective light bulb. They all felt some degree of pain, but no one suffered like Jongdae. Jongin glances at Kyungsoo, and bites his lip at the view of a ghostly face and fidgeting hands. Jongdae’s screams still haunt Kyungsoo - Jongin knows. Kyungsoo had been waiting outside the room for his turn when Jongdae had his lightning turned against him. Nobody knows what it was for like Chanyeol - Sehun said he didn’t think Chanyeol went through it when they talked, but they can only imagine it nearly broke him, too.

Chanyeol and Jongdae. Arguably the most destructive powers of the remainders of EXO. Sure, everyone here can raise hell if they wanted to - they training having made them all into killing machines - but those two do the most damage with the least effort. Their powers are nearly uncontrollable, especially Chanyeol's.

Jongdae's short, powerful bursts can kill instantly, and Chanyeol's hot and bright flames which strips one of all shelter and then more. Jongin suddenly remembers the first time they used their powers. The sheer might that he felt, watching the fields of tall grass blaze bright in the night sky, the heavens lighting up with the full force of nature, the deafening cracks sending chills down spine.

"Is Chanyeol okay?"

It’s as if the room collectively flinches, and Jongin clenches his hands together. He shoots a quick glance at Jongdae, who has his jaw set in a oddly crooked manner. Baekhyun, who doesn’t even seem to notice the ripples his question sent through the room, hurt Jongdae just now, and Jongin has to resist the urge to point it out. Those three were always so close, and now it feels like Jongdae is the only one who’s really here. That can’t be easy.

Baekhyun's concern for Chanyeol is no secret amongst everyone present, but to for him to ask about him outrightly is something new. Baekhyun hasn’t spoken in a long, long time, and the just _has_ to be the first thing he asks.

It’s painful to look at him, really, so Jongin seeks comfort in Kyungsoo’s gaze. He finds none there, as his own discomfort is reflected right back at him. He sighs. He figured this would happen for some time, and though he did try to prepare himself, it’s still a bit of a shock.

Baekhyun’s been… down, for some time. Chanyeol, whom he’s had a more than obvious fondness for, was taken from them all a while ago, and it’s affecting him more than anyone. If there's one person Baekhyun cares about - not that he wouldn't be willing to sacrifice himself for any of them - it's Chanyeol. It was only a matter of time before Baekhyun would fail to keep the mask up.

"I don’t know... I'm sorry," says Sehun, pursing his lips together and looking down on his hands in shame. Now Jongin does watch Baekhyun closely, ready to step in and comfort his friend. It’s not that Chanyeol is significantly closer to Baekhyun than to anyone else, but he does feel the need to protect him - it’s something Jongin picked up from the beginning. If anyone let anything happen to Baekhyun, Chanyeol wouldn’t forgive them. "The last time I saw him was when he broke his leg. I think it was just before he went into the room,” Sehun continues in a thick voice.

"I wish I could talk to him," says Jongdae, his eyes shimmering with tears as he reaches up, his hand searching for Minseok’s, who grasps it tightly. Jongin looks at them, maybe a little longingly, suddenly wishing he were that close with anyone.

Jongin is certain all of them want to talk to Chanyeol - perhaps Baek, Jongdae and Kyungsoo most of all. He knows Kyungsoo worries about never getting the chance to speak to Chanyeol again, solely because the argument the two of them had gotten a little heated just before they got seperated. It was about something petty, like one of Yeol's pranks gone too far, but Jongin knows it falls heavy on Kyungsoo's shoulders. He fiddles with the rough cloth of his pants, the tips of his fingers stroking along the raised edges of black stripes on the side.

"You know what?" says Suho, suddenly jumping up. Lay starts, yelping softly. "I don't think it's any use to Chanyeol if we just sit here missing him. He gave us a job to do, and probably for a good reason. Sehun said he looked fine a month ago, so he'll be fine now. Besides," he adds, winking and conjuring up that winning smile, "we can't let ourselves grow completely dependent on that idiot." Jongin wonders for a short second how Suho can say everything so confidently, but then he realizes that this is exactly what he trained for.

Suddenly, without his own body giving him any warning, Jongin bursts out laughing. His eyes blow open, and he probably looks crazy, so he hides his face behind his hands. But he doesn’t hold back the shocks of laughter than tear from his body in desperate waves. His body aches for this.

God, he hasn't laughed in so long. He feels like he can’t even keep this up for longer than a pathetic minute. So he rolls on the floor and clutches his sides, gasping as giggles burst forth, and his fingers grip into the clear, plastic coat around his shoulders.

He looks up, eyes watering a little. He spots the surprised faces of his friends, all varying different degrees of concern and a fresh wave of giggles  wash over him - because it's fucking funny, and nothing's ever been this funny. Suddenly Minseok and Jongdae burst into laughter as well, their voices loud and clear over Jongin's. They simultaneously double over, Minseok slapping his knee and Jongdae’s loud laugh washing away all silence.  Soon the entire room is filled with laughter, with everyone rolling on the floor and slapping each other on the shoulders.

They’re _alive!_ M.A.M.A - or whoever they are - haven’t managed to kill them all yet, and they’re fucking happy about that.

And they won't, because Chanyeol - their idiotic happy virus - is out there alone, coming up with some flawed plan and a way to save their sorry asses.

God, Kai's glad he's not alone.

* * *

 

He's not sure when the others started calling him Kai again. It was a name they used when they were still the great warriors from a foreign planet, searching for sanctuary after their planet was destroyed or fighting on glorious missions commissioned by their elders. It was a name used before they were disgraced, beaten and abused by these humans. It was a name used before he was powerless.

Jongin's his name. His friends used to use it all the time, and so did he. But now they call him Kai again.

Kai can do anything.

Kai can do anything. It's become a sort of mantra, and he keeps whispering it under his breath as he works his body past the breaking point, again and again. Seemingly endless hours after endless experiments and tests are spent in his cell, sweating out whatever drug they administered to him. His muscles keep screaming at him to stop - they beg for rest, but he never gives in.

The others are all doing their best to get back to what they used to be, so he should too. Nobody looks near death anymore, with fuller cheeks and clothes becoming smaller and smaller. Once ghastly skin is being flushed through with blood once again, not quite returning to its original color but regaining its life.

The trials that they're put through have become easier as well - whether that's because the research is nearing completion or because everyone's fitter than they were, Kai doesn't know. What he does know is that Sehun was permitted to see Chanyeol yesterday, and that Kai’s part of the plan is painstakingly elementary.

Everyone's nervous. Baek still barely talks, and he's started to avoid eye contact. He’s touchy, always clinging to someone’s arm or running his hand through stringy hair, but that's nothing new. If anything, it's a good sign.

Suho has improved the most, Kai thinks. He's eating plenty and is visibly fitter - his sweater no longer fitting like an overly large coat and his eyes no longer sunken and lifeless - as Sehun and Jongdae - or Chen, as they've started calling him again - try their best to keep up. Kai had felt like crying with relief when he started noticing those little changes in Suho.

Kyungsoo is with Kai the most, and though he's not quieter than usual, there's a tension in his silence that wasn't there before. He fidgets more often, his fingers always tangled in the edges of his plastic coat. His lip is cut up and ugly from the times he’s bitten it. Still, he looks... better. Kai can’t really describe it, but it’s like there’s more hope in his eyes now.

Lay, poor guy, has been working more than anyone trying to keep the others healthy, with the help of Minseok, always repairing their minor injuries when he has the chance. He’s tired almost all the time, either collapsing right after healing an injury or falling asleep even when he’s with a member. Kai worries about him - he’s the only one not exactly improving.

And yet... now that everyone knows what the plan is, they seem almost excited.

Kai is in one of the testing rooms, legs and arms chained to a chair by painful metal locks, several droids regarding him with impassive faces. He groans and tries again, focusing all his energy on the spot in front of him. Why can’t he just move?

He waits for the familiar breathless feeling, or the press against his chest.

Nothing happens.

“Attempt number thirty-four unsuccessful,” a voice sounds over the comm. It’s really starting to annoy him.

Somehow they’ve managed to make an entrapment Kai can’t teleport out of. He’s been trying all morning, but to no avail. Sweat is dripping down from his forehead onto his clothes, staining the otherwise perfectly white material with wet spots.

"Subject number eighty-eight." A droid appears in front of him, her white uniform dress swaying slightly as she suddenly stops. Kai didn’t even see where she came from. "Your presence is requested." She reaches over, her movements graceful and smooth and clicks the button on the side of the chair. The entrapment springs free with a soft hiss, and Kai rubs his wrists.

He sits up, his heart stammering wildly and his interest piqued.

Requested by whom? This is the first time Kai has even heard a mention of higher authority, or even humans beside the guards. He wonders, for a horrible second, if the research has been completed and he’s being led to his death. Even if that wasn't the case, he has to be near everyone's cells at the right moment, or their plan is all for nothing and they’re dead anyway. This room is close to the cells, so it’s no problem, but he has no idea where he needs to go or if it’s on the other side of the building or not.

He meekly follows the droid out of the room, his eyes flickering up as he passes Kyungsoo's cell. There's nobody by the tiny window, but Kai knows he's in there - he can just feel it.

If Kai gets killed in the next fifteen minutes, he hopes at least Kyongsoo will get out of here alive. He knows it’s horrible to think about, but Kyungsoo is so important to him. There’d be no point if Kyungsoo didn’t make it. He’d rather die than to see him killed.

He sighs and redirects his gaze to the very bottom of the droid's red leggings - or legs? He can't really tell. He wouldn’t be surprised if there was some biological factor worked into the droids, but it’s honestly too revolting to lose time thinking about it.

He loses track of the rights and lefts as he's led deeper and deeper into the maze of rooms, his mind not being able to keep up with all the turns they take. He passes so many doors he loses count as they walk further into the facility than he’s ever been. They walk into a dead-ended corridor, stopping for a second in front of the red door at the end.

The droid steps aside, and Kai hesitates, folding his arms behind his back and pursing his lips nervously. But then he steps inside.

The room is bigger and brighter than even the med-bay. That’s the first thing Kai notices. The second is the sickly sweet smell that chokes him, making him burst into a coughing fit. Kai doubles over, clasping his hand over his mouth and closing his eyes.

Is he being gassed? No. He calms quickly, his nose getting used to the smell. He straightens up, a figure catching his eye.

In the middle of the empty, circular room without any windows stands the most beautiful woman Kai has ever seen, regarding him with a cold gaze and flicking a stray strand of white hair from her face. Her lips are painted red as blood and her cold, grey eyes stand out starkly under her dark brows. Her neck curves onto graceful shoulders, her back stands straight and a black dress hugs her curves.

She takes his breath away.

That is, if it weren't for the fact that she's smirking and it's the single most terrifying thing Kai has ever seen. Not because it's ugly - it's honestly beautiful - but because it pulls him in and he finds it hard to think straight. She's the kind of woman Baekhyun would gush about, coming to the dorm after a day off spent in at the market, one probably with a beautiful smile and flawless in his mind. That is, if she weren't so fucking scary. 

"Subject number eighty-eight," she says in a voice that sounds like a billion ringing bells, clear and soothing, yet sharp and cutting into his mind. "Or, Kim Jongin. Sex: Male. Birthplace: EXO planet. Age: unknown. Power: teleportation. Extend: unknown. Family: unknown."

Kai shuffles his feet, but he catches himself quickly. Best not do anything to annoy her. The droids already terrify him, and she's the one who seems to control the droids. There's something about her - other than the fact that she's part of the organization that's been torturing the remains of EXO for months - that makes the hairs on the back of his neck stands on ends. There’s some sort of… air about her that radiates authority and power.

"That's one too many unknowns, eighty-eight," she says, stepping forwards and circling Kai, letting her gaze travel over his entire body. He clenches his jaw. "Your body wasn't affected by Alpha-E, but that's not the problem. We've decided to put you out in the field first."

Kai gasps softly, but before he can even form another thought, the woman steps behind him and grips his shoulders, her warm breath ghosting over his ears and sharp nails digging painfully into his skin. "Don't worry, you won't be able to escape even if you wanted to."

Kai gulps.

"Remember my name. Kim Judy," she says, before yanking his head back by the hair roughly and jamming a needle into his neck. Kai yelps and rears away from her, but the drug is already in his system. His heart races in his chest as he fears for the worst, but no pain comes. "Try teleporting now, eighty-eight." Kim Judy smirks, and this time Kai really does shiver. Jesus Christ.

She nods to the droid, and before Kai even registers what the hell just happened, he's being led away again, back into the intricate maze of rooms and corridors. He glances back once and accidentally meets the awfully cheery gaze of the woman. He quickly turns back, ripples of fear coursing through his body.

What the hell? He trained years not to feel fear in even the most hopeless and terrifying situations, yet she manages to wipe away all of that in an exchange that didn’t even last a minute.

He takes a deep breath and follows the droid, his mind deeply troubled.

To his surprise, the droid leads him back to his cell. She opens the door and grabs Kai by the collar, yanking him forward roughly and hurling him into the cell, sending him sprawling over the cold, hard floor.

Ah, fuck it.

Kai figures fifteen minutes have long since passed, and if this droid closes the door now, he's doomed. He can’t mess this up.

So he surges forward before giving himself time to really think things through and grabs the droid, shivering at how realistic the flesh feels. If he truly can't use his powers, he might as well drop this droid now and free the others so that they can protect him at least a little. He twists his arms around the droids neck, and snaps his arms in opposite directions. The droid slacks in his arm, dropping to the floor when he releases her. She suddenly looks so much more human, with her eyes wide and usually perfectly straight hair in a messy halo around her head.

Oh god. Oh god. Oh god. Kai's heart races in his chest and he's got no idea what to do. Bile rises in his throat and Kai can only turn away just in time before emptying his stomach on the clean floor. Fuck.

Right. Rescue the others. That was his part in this plan.

He wipes the sick off his mouth and takes a steadying breath. Do something! So he runs out of his own cell, jumping over the limp droid, and towards Kyungsoo's door, banging and kicking against the metal in a near-panic.

No response comes.

Instead, there’s an odd clicking sound right behind him, and when Kai turns, he sees it’s Lay flicking his nails on the window of his cell. Kai nearly sobs in relief, not realizing how terrified he was of being alone and failing the plan. He runs forward, getting as close to the tiny window as possible in an attempt to hear Lay through the glass.

He can see Lay saying something, his lips moving quickly and fervently, but Kai can’t hear him. He’s got no means of opening the door, lacking the chip built into the droids. He can’t use the one he just killed either, because the chip deactivates along with the droid.

If Minseok were here, he’d be able to break through the door with some smart way he made up on the spot, but Kai is fresh out of ideas and power. He holds up his hand, catching Lay’s attention immediately. Lay stops and wipes a black strand of hair from his face, breathing quickly.

”They took my powers,” says Kai, desperately hoping Lay can read his lips. Apparently he can, because his eyes grow wide in shock. Kai is almost relieved and he sighs, until he realizes that Lay isn’t look at him but at something behind him. Shit.

Carefully, Kai turns, flinching when he spots a droid right behind him. Just his luck. He throws up his hands in attempt to defend himself, but the droid doesn’t move. He can’t attack her now - she can see it coming and is much stronger than he.

“All living subjects requested at room four,” she says dryly, before reaching behind Kai and opening Lay’s cell. “Speaking in these halls is not permitted to subjects.”

As if Kai needed a reminder. The last time he made that mistake he was tied up for three days while they ran a whole load of painful tests on him. The wounds would still be healing had it not been for this Lay’s powers.

He swallows nervously as the droid stills for a moment, but then she turns and walks down the corridor. He waits for a moment, taking a deep breath when Lay appears by his side.

Kai and Lay share a glance before hesitantly walking after the droid. Kai suddenly remembers he left the door to his cell open, and that there’s a dead droid in there, but the one leading them pays no attention to it. They keep walking down the corridor like there’s nothing there, but Kai only breathes easier when they turn the first corner.

Lay pinches Kai’s arm. Kai turns a little to look at him, and Lay nods, a frown on his face.

 _Mine too_ , he mouths.

Fuck. Kai purses his lip, mind racing at a million thoughts a second, but he can’t think of any reason why they would take everyone’s powers. He keeps his gazed fixed on his shoes, and he keeps nervously running his hand through his hair as he’s lost in thought. They keep walking for what seems like mere seconds, but is probably much longer.

That is, until Lay pinches his arm again and Kai turns to look at him again.

Lay isn’t looking at him. He’s staring at something in front of them in sheer horror, his eyes blown wider than Kai has ever seen them, his mouth open just a little to let out the quick breaths Lay releases. Kai follows his gaze.

They’ve stopped in front of two massive doors. In giant, awfully red letters is the number four. Kai lets out a dry sob.

Room four.

A massive maze made to torture and test them, just like everything else in this god-forsaken lab. Running for their lives and getting through malicious obstacles, shifting walls and hidden traps, so much blood and three of them dead. That’s what Kai remembers.

It had been the worst night of their lives.

This was back on their first day here. Then there were still twelve of them. Back then they were allowed their powers.

Kai whimpers and clutches onto Lay’s hand, desperate for any last comfort before they’re split up. Lay squeezes his hand, and Kai sobs dryly again. His heart feels like it’s going to burst from his chest. Sweat beads on his forehead and upper lip, and Kai flicks his tongue over his lip.

Calm down, he tells himself. It doesn’t really work. He closes his eyes and gives Lay hand another gentle squeeze, not for comfort but for confirmation.

Lay sends it right back to him, and Kai feels reassured. He can do this.

He has a plan. It worked last time, so why wouldn’t it now?

Find the others and survive.

Simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are always appreciated ;)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i edited this one too (this srsly took me like five yrs). I have midterms coming up, but I promise that after this I'll start writing another chapter while also editing the few shitty-ass ones i have left.

Sobs rack his body as he gasps for air, his lungs burning and water pooling in his eyes. His legs tremble beneath him, barely strong enough to hold his still-meager weight. He wants to cry out for help, but he knows there’s no one left to answer him. He doesn’t even know if any of them are alive...

Chanyeol groans softly as he slides to the floor, the cool surface of the grey wall soothing against his back. Tears fall onto his knees, washing away the remnants of blood.

He’s never going to make it out of here.

He whimpers, pain resonating through his entire body. His face is coated in a thick layer of dust, the blood and other disgusting fluids which didn’t come from him keeping it in place. His hands aren’t the color of skin anymore, but rather a strange and revolting mix of red and grey. His hair is plastered to his face with sweat, but Chanyeol can’t find the energy to wipe it away. His clothes are still awfully white, the blood, sweat and tears not affecting it all. There’s not a speck of dust on it, even as Chanyeol tried to make it as dirty as possible.

He leans his head back against the concrete in attempt to clear his mind. It doesn’t work. A million thought race through his head, over half being different scenarios of his own death being played over and over again. The dark corridor ahead of him seems to breathe, inviting him to try one of those possibilities.

He reaches up and smacks his cheek with the palm of his hand, clenching the other around his mutilated thigh. He clenches his jaw as the pain shoots through his entire leg, shocking all those thoughts away.

Don’t think like that, idiot. You can still keep going.

But it hurts so much. He’s been running for what seems like hours, trying to keep away from whatever creature lurks in this place. He’s managed to fight off three rabid... things, nearly at the cost of his own life. He’s nearly gotten stuck and crushed by two moving walls. He’s fallen into a three meter hole, nearly breaking his legs again, and somehow he’s still alive. He can’t keep going for much longer on his own, though. He’s not delusional, and the deep gashes on his leg aren’t going to stop bleeding soon. If he’s lucky, Chanyeol estimates he can keep going on his own for half an hour or so. After that, if he hasn’t found anyone - preferably Lay - he’s certainly going to die.

He sniffles and wipes the tears from his eyes, undoubtedly smearing his face with dust. He doesn’t really care about that, though. With a groan he pushes himself up, using the wall as a brace to keep him upright. Tentatively he takes a step, keeping his shoulder snug against the wall and his hands out in front of him. He stumbles more than he walks, but somehow he manages to move forward without falling.

While he slowly makes his way along the corridor, putting one timid foot in front of another, his mind starts to whirr.

He needs to find the others. The quicker the better, because Chanyeol isn’t sure how long anyone can last out here alone. Even so, unity doesn’t guarantee survival either. There’s three figures in the back of his head that prove it.

He can only hope the others have started to find each other, especially Baekhyun, Lay and Kai. Their powers aren’t built for battle, and even though both Lay and Kai spent years by his side in the ground unit, Chanyeol isn’t sure they could hold their own against the maze. He certainly can’t.

As long as those three have found someone already, the chances of everyone still being alive remains fairly high. He estimates it’s been two hours in the maze - meaning they’ve still got about ten to go. If Baekhyun, Lay and Kai have found someone with powers that could protect them, then they’ll be alright.

Chanyeol almost feels at ease, but then he remembers some crucial detail that he somehow managed to leave out. It kind of makes him feel stupid so he punches the wall for good measure.

The others probably didn’t get to keep their powers either. There’s some egotistical monster inside him that thought that only he got them taken away because he’s the most destructive and dangerous, but he knows that’s not quite true. The others could also raise hell if they wanted to - the only difference between them is that the others don’t do it on accident.

Chanyeol bites his lip. He just hopes nobody else is wounded. He won’t be able to go through something like last time again. He’s sure the others can’t either.

That raises another issue, he thinks as he makes his way along the long tunnel, towards the fork in the maze. With every step he takes, he first tests the ground, making sure it won’t give way right under him or spring some diabolic trap.

How the hell did these M.A.M.A. people find out they were going to attempt an escape? That's one of the only logical reasons for putting them in this fucking place, apart from another test. Chanyeol's ruled out the testing possibility just because it wouldn't make sense to test them like this without their powers. The risks are just way too high. If they wanted a field test - which would be logical, considering Lay’s ideas Sehun explained to him - but it just wouldn’t make sense to have a test in which the chances of death were so high.

So, they figured out their plan, but how? Either they managed to overhear every conversation Chanyeol's had with Sehun and Sehun with the others - which is really not unlikely - or... they were betrayed.

Chanyeol huffs and shakes his head. Nobody would betray their group willingly, so it must've been that they overheard the plans. But that would mean they figured out that their full potential was destroyed when their numbers were cut down to nine - it wouldn’t make sense to keep testing if they were able to get all the information by just listening. Chanyeol is certain all of it was discussed at some point. Anyway, it’s not of pressing importance.

Not when Chanyeol can hear shuffling behind him.

The dimly lit corridor provides shelter for all sorts of horrors, so Chanyeol scolds himself for getting lost in his own thoughts. His limbs stiffen and his throat constricts - Chanyeol doesn’t dare move, but he knows he’ll have to.

Shuffling turns to heavy thuds - the sounds of paws hitting the dust. It’s still far from him, but he’s aware that that could change within seconds. Chanyeol doesn't have to look to know what it is, and he'd really rather not waste time. He's powerless, exhausted and can barely stand up straight, so he props himself up against the wall, setting one trembling foot in front of another. Sweat beads on his forehead again, despite the fact that his breath is turning to mist right in front of his eyes. His legs shake, not only out of exhaustion but out of fear as well. His heart hammers in his chest painfully, but he doesn’t dare look behind.

He won't make it far unless a miracle happens. He’s painfully aware of this irrefutable fact.

He can smell the filthy stench of rotting, old blood and fur that has never been washed. He can hear claws clicking even in the thick layer of grey dust that covers the floor. The eerie sounds of heavy breathing echoes in this long tunnel, forming goosebumps on his arms. He whimpers quietly, desperation rising in his throat.

Faster. He somehow manages to break into a jog, but his heart's beating too fast and his legs ache to much for him to run at full speed.

Left. Or right?

The thuds behind him are growing louder and faster, and a low growl sounds behind him, echoing menacingly through the empty hall. Chanyeol speeds up, yelping as the pain in his legs becomes nearly unbearable. His foot drags over the floor, leaving a trail in the soot behind him for anyone to follow.

“Please, please,” Chanyeol chants breathlessly, for what he isn’t sure. His breath comes in ragged and broken gasps, his lungs burning for hair as his body shakes.

He turns left in the fork and slams into a figure, but he doesn’t have the light or the time to see who it is. He groans as his shoulder makes contact with what feels like an arm, snapping it back and slowing him down. Pain erupts over his shoulder blades, but he doesn't stop, even more desperate to keep himself alive now that he's found someone else. He stumbles further, reaching behind him for the figure.

"Come on!" he shouts, dragging whoever it is by the hand. It's no use. He wouldn't be able to run fast even if his legs didn't hurt, with all this dust on the floor, and the creature is much, much faster than he is. He grits his teeth.

Than either of them.

Chanyeol shouts out in surprise when the figure suddenly stops, yanking his arm free from Chanyeol’s clammy grasp with staggering force.

“What are you-” Chanyeol begins.

Chanyeol stumbles and looks behind him just in time to see the creature being pummeled by a club, right over the head. The figure towers over it, his black hair flying with every motion he makes. The creature stumbles, mewling softly and pawing at its head like a lost puppy, but it's given no time to recover, because its attacker releases another furious wave of hits, growling deeply with effort. Chanyeol can only watch dumbfoundedly from afar as the figure keeps hitting until the creature no longer moves. The figure suddenly stops, breathing heavily and club loose in his hand. He turns, opening his free hand to let soft light bloom over his face. Chanyeol sucks in a surprised breath.

"Baek..." Chanyeol rasps. Relief washes through him like a tidal wave, nearly buckling his knees beneath him. It’s like being blown full of breath and having all the air sucked out of him at once. For _five fucking months_ he’s been worrying about Baekhyun. Sehun kept insisting he was fine, and Chanyeol trusts him, but he always worried anyways, and he knew that worry wouldn’t go away until he saw Baekhyun for himself. But now that he’s here, it’s so overwhelming Chanyeol doesn’t really know what to do.

Baek's face is smeared with dirt and not as lively and bright as it used to be, but his wide, happy smile is the same.

It provides more light than his powers do.

Baek releases the light and rushes forward, stumbling a little over the club. He whimpers, throwing his arms around Chanyeol’s neck and sighs deeply. Chanyeol’s arms respond before he even registers what’s happening, wrapping tightly around Baekhyun’s frail and slender body. Chanyeol pretends not to notice the raised edges of ribs he can feel even through the thick cloth of his white sweater, or how Baekhyun can’t seem to regain his breath entirely, panting hot breath into Chanyeol’s shoulder, and buries his nose deeper in the crook of Baekhyun’s neck, relishing in the fact that they’re both okay.

Chanyeol wants to stay here like this for at least a little while, but his neck is starting to hurt so he quickly pulls away and clears his throat awkwardly. Baekhyun avoids his gaze, keeping his own fixed on Chanyeol’s boots. Chanyeol frowns, but he doesn’t dwell on it. They need to get out of here.

"We gotta find the others - and then figure out a way to get out of here. Where did you get that thing?" Chanyeol says, eyeing the club with a raised eyebrow. It’s absolutely badass, but it does raise a few questions.

"Wait, hold on," Baekhyun says, kneeling down to rub the blood off his club with dust. Chanyeol wonders for a second where he could've found that thing, seeing as there's nothing in this hall but towering walls and beasts out to kill them all. Baekhyun doesn’t answer him, and Chanyeol pouts. "Have you gotten your powers back yet?"

"No. Were we supposed to?" Chanyeol asks, and he can't help but smile a little. That'd be kind of horrible, if they took his powers forever. Huh. He huffs. This kind of delusional thinking is going to get him killed some day, he’s aware.

Baekhyun sighs and holds out his palm, letting the light bloom from it softly. Now Chanyeol does really smile, and he lets his fingers play in the familiar warmth of Baek's light for a few seconds. Then he catches himself and quickly pulls his hand back, shivering as the cold creeps back into his fingers. Baekhyun’s too close, with his breath ghosting over Chanyeol’s chest, creeping through his sweater and setting him on fire - figuratively, of course. Chanyeol’s nearly forgotten how small he really is - tiny compared to the rest of the ground unit Chanyeol was on. He resists the urge to wrap his arms around Baekhyun again. The need to protect Baekhyun has always been strong, always resonating inside Chanyeol like some disease. He takes a deep breath.

Can't get distracted now.

He huffs and tries to call on the flames, but nothing comes - nothing but a strange tingle in his fingertips. He recognizes it though; it’s the same feeling he got when the powers were first given to him. He remembers standing in that field for hours, cursing this same feeling to hell, desperately wishing there’d be something _more._ He’s the exact same now.

"Do you have any idea how we're gonna get out of here?" Baekhyun asks, his breath finally steadying, already moving back to where they came from. Chanyeol follows him, not once looking to the wall for support, and they turn to the right end of the fork. He flinches a little with every step, but he keeps himself quiet. Chanyeol glances at the beast only for a second, taking in the mangled head with its bulging, evil eyes and fangs the size of his fingers, chipped and yellow. The dark coat is matted and tangled with blood and other nauseating liquids Chanyeol doesn’t have the stomach to identify. He shivers and hobbles after Baekhyun.

"First we need to find the others. I'm thinking if Kyunsoo gets his powers back, he can break through the walls." Chanyeol sighs. "We'll need to be fast, though - to make this work."

"I'm not following." Their pace is fast, and Chanyeol’s legs ache more with every step. He keeps himself from crying out, but just barely. He can feel a warm stream of blood running down his leg, and he bites his lips to hold back a groan. He screws his eyes shut for a second, taking a deep breath and steadying himself. He’s trembling, probably more from exertion than the cold, but he hopes he can write it off as fatigue and a result of the lack of protection a mere sweater and white cargo pants provide.

Keep moving.

Baekhyun hasn't noticed it yet, which is probably best. They can't slow down now. Chanyeol walks close to Baekhyun, ready to jump in front of him when danger nears. It doesn't make sense, seeing as Baek's the one with the bat, but Chanyeol feels more comfortable knowing he could potentially buy Baekhyun some time. He felt the same way about Kyungsoo, Minseok, Chen and Suho for a long time, too - the overwhelming urge to provide shelter from whatever means to do them harm. Kyungsoo and Minseok were the first to point out they didn’t need his help, the relentless prods to his softer spots or the punches to his arm delivered with overwhelming strength were always a good reminder. Chen and Baekhyun were the only ones to never really push him away, with Suho frowning down (somehow) on him on occasion. But Chanyeol lost the urge to protect Chen little by little every time they trained together, or with every occasion they nearly killed each other.

Baekhyun’s been the only one who seemed to fit perfectly in his embrace, and who was the only one who seemed perfectly happy to stay there.

"Well, breaking through the walls is obviously going to raise an alarm, so if we want to actually escape this place, we'll need to leave quickly or we'll be caught."

"Wait, we're still doing that?" Baekhyun asks, pausing his walk to look at Chanyeol with questioning eyes. Chanyeol looks at him, stopping too and wondering when Baek got so stupid. It's kind of cute, but also hella annoying. He shakes his head, and keeps moving, taking extra care not to flinch as he walks, as Baekhyun’s behind him now.

"We don't have a choice," Chanyeol says with a groan he somehow manages to disguise as a sigh. Fuck. Baekhyun notices, sort of, because he glances at him with a raised eyebrow. Chanyeol swallows nervously, but Baekhyun doesn’t seem to dwell on it very long, taking the lead again. "If we stay, they're going to continue running those fucked up tests on us. If they do that, then we're as good as dead."

"That makes sense, I guess." Chanyeol scoffs. He doesn't understand why Baekhyun is being so hesitant about everything, but he doesn't comment on it. He supposes it’s a good thing Baek’s questioning so much - it could be something that’s kept him alive all this time. He wouldn’t be surprised if Baek’s been tricked and God knows what else to get him to this point.

Chanyeol stills and turns to Baekhyun, mentally slapping himself and his brow pinching together as he scans Baek's face. Baekhyun looks at him with wide, surprised eyes, stopping dead in his tracks as well.

"How was it for you in the box?" Chanyeol honestly can't believe himself for not asking him this earlier, seeing as he himself took a whole week to recover from that thing. He spent a week in his cell, throwing up whatever they tried to feed him and lying in a puddle of his own sweat constantly. He didn’t have time to ask Sehun about the conditions of everyone else when they last met, so he fears the worst as he continues to look for any abnormalities in Baekhyun’s face. To his surprise, though, Baekhyun's face relaxes, and he claps Chanyeol on the shoulder with a relieved smile before continuing on.

"It stung at most. I think Chen and you were the only ones truly hurt." Chanyeol’s shoulder, and he’s unable to hide the relief on his face. Baekhyun huffs a small laugh.

Sehun only had time to quickly explain that the excruciating pain that he felt in that box was his own power somehow being turned against him. Chanyeol suspected Chen and himself would be the ones to feel the most pain, but he didn’t want to assume. He’s worried about Chen, of course, but he’s glad it was only the two of them who suffered. And, judging from the silence from Baekhyun, Chen’s doing fine now too.

They walk in silence for at least half an hour before Chanyeol collapses.

They'd been avoiding traps and shifting walls somehow, but they're lost. He has no idea which way he even came from or where the exit is. Not that it even matters if they don’t find the others. Baekhyun lets his light shine on occasion, but Chanyeol can tell he’s getting tired too. The light becomes dimmer and dimmer every time he uses it, till the point where Chanyeol told him to stop. It’s not as if they need to move fast anyway.

The flaring pain in his legs had steadily been building up, and while he honestly thought he would be able to go on, they failed him and buckled beneath him, sending him sprawling on his stomach in the dust painfully. He coughs, dust filling his lungs and eyes. He paws at his eyes, attempting to get at least some dust away, but he only manages to wipe more into his face.

"Chanyeol!" Baekhyun yelps, his voice frantic and panicked. A muffled sound sounds further up ahead, presumably the bat dropping to the floor. The soft thuds of Baekhyun’s footsteps draw nearer, and then Chanyeol finds himself being dragged up and towards the wall. He can’t see very well.

Chanyeol moans softly and presses his hand to his leg where the bleeding is at its worst, gushing from his leg in fresh waves. He hisses when it stings. Fuck. He really didn’t mean for this to happen so quickly.

"Chanyeol, what happened?" Baekhyun sounds breathless, and Chanyeol blinks furiously to get the annoying dust from his eyes. His vision clears just enough for him to see Baekhyun’s dirty face. Baekhyun’s eyes are wide, shock evident in his face.

"Hmm. Fucking monsters," is all Chanyeol manages to say through gritted teeth. He's quite surprised Baekhyun hasn't noticed anything yet, but then it’s also quite understandable. Somehow, his pants have sealed themselves loosely around his leg, probably a result of human technology. The only evidence of the injury is the pain shooting through his entire body, crippling him and rendering him useless.

"Oh, fuck. Why didn't you tell me?" Baekhyun breathes out as he peels away Chanyeol's hand and gently pries open the fabric around the wound, revealing the ugly gashes in Chanyeol’s leg. Chanyeol feels a pang of guilt at Baekhyun’s question - they _are_ supposed to be able to trust each other, after all. And he does trust Baekhyun to care, but that care is going to get them both killed some day. "We need to get you to Lay."

Without another word Baekhyun strips off his clear jacket, only glancing up for a second to scrutinizing Chanyeol’s face. Then, with the same tenderness he would have if he were holding a child, he lifts up Chanyeol’s leg, slowing when Chanyeol hisses in pain pathetically. He lays the jacket under Chanyeol’s thigh, pursing his lips as he folds it into a neat strip. He loosely ties two ends of the jacket-strip together.

“This is gonna hurt,” Baekhyun says, looking at Chanyeol with those adorably big eyes as if he’s asking a question. Chanyeol nods, readying himself and taking a deep breath. Baekhyun sighs and pulls the two ends tight.

Oh, fuck! Chanyeol manages to keep his mouth shut, but he yells, his voice muffled only by his lips. It feels as if his entire leg’s been set on fire, but for some reason it’s strangely dull. His leg is losing all feeling quickly. Oh shit, this is bad.

Chanyeol grips into Baekhyun’s shoulder in an attempt to steady both himself and Baekhyun, but he ends up more or less digging his nails into Baekhyun’s flesh. Baekhyun clenches his jaw, but otherwise doesn’t react. For some odd reason Chanyeol appreciates Baekhyun’s ability to keep quiet, but he isn’t sure whether it’s because the pressing fear of being found by whatever creature lurks in this maze or the nagging, lurking terror of a possible, irrefutable change in Baekhyun that might wake from dormancy as soon as he speaks.

It’s not an irrational fear, which makes it all the worse. He isn’t even sure if he won’t be able to go back to who he was before all this. To be honest, he doubts it. It may be an arrogant thought, but if both Chanyeol and Baekhyun have changed for the worse, it’s unlikely the team will stay sane for very long. This burden falls on their shoulders.

Chanyeol looks down to Baekhyun’s hands fumbling with the clear coat on Chanyeol’s thigh. They’re shaking, covered in sticky, drying blood, nails chipped and short but skin still looking as soft as it was. It was something Chanyeol never understood about Baekhyun’s hands; how they managed to stay so soft even as he handled the rough and taxing tasks the job demanded of him.

Baekhyun lets out a slow breath and turns to the other thigh. It’s not as torn up and mangled as the left one, but there’s a fair amount of blood that stain Baekhyun’s hands as he pries open the pants again.

“Fuck. Fuck, Chanyeol,” whispers Baekhyun.

"That's a lot of fucks," says Chanyeol breathlessly, watching Baekhyun's changing expression carefully. There are tears in his eyes, but he smiles at Chanyeol's humorless joke. Huh, maybe he’s not too different after all. Baekhyun leans forward, scrunching up his nose and keeping his gaze fixed on the small cuts on Chanyeol’s leg. The cuts are coated with dried blood, which is probably a good thing, but it looks fucking disgusting.

Chanyeol frowns and leans to the left, having seen something odd about Baekhyun.

There's a deep scrape that runs over the side of his neck, Chanyeol notices. A trail of caked, brown blood runs and spreads over the veins that always pop out when he’s stressed. The wound itself still glistens in the dim light coming from nowhere in particular, but it doesn’t bleed. Good.

Carelessly and before thinking what the actual fuck he’s doing, Chanyeol traces the wound with the pad of his finger, brow furrowing when he feels the swollen and hot skin. Baekhyun flinches away from Chanyeol’s touch, but he keeps his eyes glued to Chanyeol’s leg. He doesn’t say a word, but Chanyeol gets it. Baekhyun doesn’t want to be touched there. Chanyeol pretends to himself that he isn’t a little hurt, though Baekhyun has every right to want to refuse him, but the fear keeps growing and growing.

"Alright, just lean on me for now," Baekhyun says suddenly, leaning back on his heels and pushing himself off the floor. He holds out a slightly trembling hand for Chanyeol to take. Chanyeol hates the way his own rough and calloused hands feel in Baekhyun’s soft and sticky ones, but he loves that the smoothness is a disguise for a hidden brawn that manages to pull him up to his feet. Baekhyun moves to duck under Chanyeol’s arm, but Chanyeol pulls away his arm before he does, stumbling and steadying himself on the wall.

"That won't work, Baekie," says Chanyeol, grinning slightly. He can't help but be amused by his considerably smaller friend - as his height is an obvious problem. It was never as if Baekhyun ignored Chanyeol’s height, or rather, the difference between them, but he was always aware of it and making compromises because of it. Now, however, he doesn’t seem to care that Chanyeol is way too fucking tall to be leaning on a tiny human like Baekhyun. "Unless I'm leaning down and hanging entirely on you, I won't get any support from you."

Not for the first time in his life, Chanyeol regret his somewhat obnoxious height. He can already see the anger flashing in Baekhyun's eyes, and for some stupid reason it sets him off as well, because he knows Baek's about to say some stupid shit and they really don't have time for that. They usually don’t argue - their thoughts are so similar they usually end up disagreeing about who got to say whatever first, but those quarrels were often solved within seconds. Now, however, Chanyeol finds his patience dwindling quickly. They really don’t have _time_ to be discussing this right now and it’ll only slow them down _more_ if they went with Baekhyun’s plan. If this guy wants to spend any more precious seconds discussing this, he’d either going to get them or the others killed - neither of which seem like a great option.

"Doesn't matter," Baekhyun protests, staring up at Chanyeol defiantly. Chanyeol rolls his eyes. "You can't go anywhere with those legs, and if we stay here, we'll die."

Though he's missed Baekhyun a fuckton, Chanyeol can't help but growl in frustration. He curls his fist against the wall and chews his lip nervously. He can't have Baekhyun being unreasonably stubborn now. What if something happens to Baekhyun while he’s trying to protect Chanyeol like some pretentious hero. Chanyeol honestly doesn’t think he’d survive being away from Baekhyun for more than a few minutes now. He’s lived on without him for months, but now that they’re together again, Chanyeol doubts he’ll be able to let go. With Sehun it was difficult, too - the only solace being the plan gradually building up inside his mind. No, if Baekhyun were to die, Chanyeol would not make it very much farther.

One of them being alive is still better than none, though, so Chanyeol really doesn't get why Baek won't just leave him. It’s logical. Baekhyun’s chances of survival are much higher if he were to leave Chanyeol to find the others. He’s got his bat, and Chanyeol doesn’t have his powers. The smartest thing to die right now, though it's kind of terrifying and Chanyeol doesn’t really want to suggest it, would be for Baekhyun to leave Chanyeol and find someone whose powers are working. If he's lucky, he could find both Lay and Kai and come looking for Chanyeol. But they don't have time to argue about this now. This is the only obvious choice.

"Then leave me!" he yells, throwing up his hands in exasperation. He can’t really explain the rage coursing through his veins, but it’s making his entire body hot and kinda sweaty. Chanyeol wipes the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand. "Find the others and get out of here!"

He regrets the words as soon as he's said them, and he can only watch as Baekhyun's lower lip starts to quiver and his hands curl into fists. There’s that hurt in Baekhyun’s eyes that compels Chanyeol want to apologize for everything even if he hasn’t done anything wrong. He has a serious weakness  But before he can ever say anything to apologize, their attention is snapped away by a thundering sound so loud Chanyeol feels like his ears are going to explode. He takes a step forward towards the sound, horrible suspicion rising in his throat like bile, but he stumbles. Baekhyun shoots forward and grabs Chanyeol by the arm roughly, hauling him up before he can hit the ground.

"Fuck! What was that?" Baek asks, wasting absolutely no time before ducking under Chanyeol’s arm and heaving him up further. Chanyeol doesn’t protest, instead attempting to walk without leaning on Baekhyun’s small frame too much. The explosion is followed by rumbling that sounds and feels nothing short of an earthquake, shaking the ground and making Chanyeol’s jaw clatter painfully. He growls in frustration.

_No!_

"The fucking idiot's already started bringing down the maze!" Chanyeol yells over the fading rumbling, hobbling forward faster than he should. Unless Kyungsoo has found all the other members and completely trusts Chanyeol and Baekhyun to make it out alive without him, his timing is absolute shit. Chanyeol always thought that former intelligence cadets were supposed to be smart, but apparently not. This was impulsive, stupid and risky, and Chanyeol is definitely going to kill Kyungsoo for doing something so reckless.

Without another word, Baekhyun drags Chanyeol forward, supporting him as much as Chanyeol lets him, which isn’t very much. Chanyeol grits his teeth as his feet drag through the sand with every agonizing step, pain flaring up in his thighs with every attempts he makes at pushing himself forward and lifting his weight off Baek's shoulders. A cloud of dust engulfs them quickly, coming at them quickly and mercilessly, filling their mouths and eyes with sand. Chanyeol coughs as his lungs throbbed in his chest, but he stands up straighter when he hears Baekhyun cough as well. Better give him some space for that, Chanyeol decides.

It doesn't even take three turns or they're already at the site of the destruction.

Chanyeol cries out softly as they clamber over the rubble towards the center of the odd crater made by Kyungsoo.

The wall's been torn down entirely, and so are all the others after that, leaving a neat path to follow. At the end of it Chanyeol can just about make out a door. Boulders and rocks line the path messily, and Chanyeol already feels sick as the prospect of having to climb over all of them with his legs this way.

"Chanyeol! Baek!" Kai suddenly appears in front of them, leaving a trail of blue smoke. Baekhyun jumps and yelps, sort of flinching towards Chanyeol as if he’s trying to hide behind him but is hindered by the fact that Chanyeol’s arm is still around his shoulders. It’s pretty adorable, but Chanyeol doesn’t smile. He’s dizzy and exhausted, no longer having to pretend he’s fine. He’s shaking and everything hurts and light-headed and oh, god he’s going to die.

Kai surges forward to embrace them both, arms wide and a gleeful smile splayed on his pretty lips, his eyes crinkling together happily, just the way Chanyeol remembers it. He falters, smile slowly melting off his dirty face when he sees Chanyeol practically hanging off Baek's shoulders, his legs about to give under him again.

Huh, Chanyeol thinks vaguely, even covered in dust and blood and what looks like the purple slime that those creatures have on them all the time, Kai’s still one of the most beautiful people he’s ever seen. There’s that savage elegance to him now, a rough edge cut into what was once refined and graceful. And, to be honest, if Chanyeol wasn’t completely aware of Kai’s endearment for Kyungsoo, he’d have called Kai out on it. That, and he doesn’t think he can say too much without barfing, so the necessary stuff comes first.

"So you've got yours back, too?" jokes Chanyeol, smiling weakly. Dizziness overwhelms him suddenly, and the floor seems to sway under him, bile rises in his throat again. He pinches his eyes shut, trying to find his balance, to endure the pain. The sick doesn’t go away, so Chanyeol lets out a slow breath and opens his eyes. Both Kai and Baekhyun look at him with wide eyes, lines of anxiety etched into their faces. Fuck.

"Kai," says Baekhyun urgently, his voice an octave higher than it was before, quickly placing a warm hand on Chanyeol's chest to steady him. "Have you seen Lay anywhere?"

Why would they get Lay? There isn’t anyone injured, is there? Wait, it’s Chanyeol, isn’t it?

Kai nods. "Yeah, I went up ahead, but I’ll go get him." Kai disappears with a loud crack and blue smoke billowing in his wake, before reappearing just as quickly, but with Lay clutched to his side. Lay’s arms are curled tightly around Kai’s slim waist, his eyes screwed shut and face a little pale, while Kai’s arm is wrapped tightly around Lay’s shoulder, holding him steady as Lay sways just a little.

It was too fast for Chanyeol to really follow, and he groans, fresh waves of nausea rolling over him.

Lay perks up promptly, his eyes blowing open and gaze fixing on Chanyeol without hesitation. The uncomfortable, sheepish look on his face melts away instantly, replaced by an uncanny, intense focused face. Lay’s brow pinches together in that way it rarely does, the corners of his mouth tugging down as he rushes forward. Chanyeol vaguely remembers that look from about three years ago, when they still did heavy field work. Back then they were inexperienced and clumsy, and Lay still had to mend bones and heal skin with the technology and skills available, not the powers granted to him.  

“No!” Chanyeol says, swatting away Lay’s hands as he reaches forward. Lay looks up, a strange kind of dread in his eyes, confirming Chanyeol’s suspicions. “It’s poison, right?” Chanyeol’s breathless, his words coming out in more desperate wheezes.

Lay hesitates, glancing at Chanyeol’s legs. That’s the thing about Lay - Chanyeol can never really tell what he’s thinking. When he’s sad, his eyebrows barely tuck up and his mouth doesn’t slant down like it should. There’ll be no tears in his eyes or no tremble in his hands. When he’s worried about something, he won’t bite his lip or fidget with his fingers. He’s so hard to read.

“Yes,” says Lay, his jaw clenching just a little and his voice thick. His voice - the only means of reading what he means. When Lay speaks, he can’t hide anything. He can’t lie, and both Chanyeol and Lay know it.

“Heal him first,” wheezes Chanyeol, reaching up with the hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder and wrapping it in his ebony hair. He pulls Baekhyun’s head to the side, gently but faster than Baekhyun can react, exposing the ugly scrape on the side of his neck. Baekhyun yelps and tries to get away from Chanyeol, but Chanyeol is far stronger than he is and far, far more desperate.

“No! Lay, look, he’s getting delusional. You gotta help him!” Baekhyun protests, squirming and wiggling in Chanyeol’s grip. He whines, a high-pitched sound coming from deep within him.

Lay just looks at Chanyeol, his gaze turning distant and vague. He’s thinking.

“If I heal him, you’ll let me heal him?” he says, gaze still not focused on anything in particular. Behind him, Kai opens his mouth as if he wants to say something, but one venomous look from Chanyeol shuts him up. Chanyeol nods, too breathless to say anything anymore.

He knows he doesn’t have long, but if Lay were to lose all his energy trying to heal Chanyeol, Baekhyun wouldn’t last one hour. There’s thick, purple veiny things already spreading from the wound like some intricate web. Chanyeol’s sure his leg isn’t much better, but there’s too much blood to see.

Lay steps forward and hovers his hand over Baekhyun’s neck, his brow furrowed in concentration again and tension in his shoulders. Chanyeol watches carefully. He can’t see the wound itself - Lay’s hand blocks his vision a little - but he can see the purple veins retracting and fading. Only when Lay pulls his hands back as if he were burned, and Baekhyun sighs in what sounds an awful lot like relief, does Chanyeol relinquish his hold on him, sagging down against Baek as energy drains out of him.

Lay drops to his knees in front of Chanyeol's legs immediately, not wasting any time before letting his gentle hands pass over his thighs. It feels nice - a warm tingling that passes through his bones and muscles to his skin and comforting his entire body. It turns sharp quickly though, the comfort transforming into a sharp prickling in his leg that’s more annoying than painful, but Chanyeol bites his lip all the same. When Lay takes his hands away, panting a little bit and sweat beading on his brow, the tingling stops but the pleasant warmth stays. The prickling in his fingertips also grows, but he shakes it off, not needing to worry about that now.

Chanyeol takes a shaky breath, his veins suddenly filling with sufficient oxygen again and his clouded head clearing again. Lay stands and Chanyeol claps him on the shoulder in a gesture meant as a thanks.

"Alright," he says, clearing his throat and taking his arm off Baekhyun's shoulder, though a little reluctantly. It’s just that Baekhyun fits there so perfectly and Chanyeol honestly thinks he should stay as close as possible - not because Chanyeol really wants him to but because he’s safer there. "Have you two found anyone else?"

Chanyeol bends down and unwraps the clear coat from his leg, before giving it back to Baekhyun.

"No, but I doubt Kyungsoo was alone when he did this," says Kai, gesturing vaguely at the rubble around them.

Chanyeol nods. If there’s anyone who can predict what Kyungsoo does, it’s Kai. Those two are so close that, if Chanyeol didn’t know any better, he’d say they were together. But unless something changed in these past few months, there was too much tension between the two for that to be true. Chanyeol remembers the times he’s caught those two looking at each other, practically fucking each other with their eyes and driving everyone in the room insane.

Anyways. Now they just need to figure out with how many Kyungsoo left this place. Chanyeol bites his lip uncertainly and looks down on his feet. It seems unlikely, but if Kyungsoo did this with only one companion, then that means that there's three more of them wandering around in this wretched place.

"Well, he at least had Minseok and Suho with him," says Lay, pointing to a large boulder further ahead. Chanyeol follows his gaze and spots ice holding up an unstable looking rock, as well as watery footprints in the sand. He nods. For some of them - Chanyeol himself included - leave traces of their powers when they’re stressed. Kyungsoo is probably too exhausted for it to show, and Sehun and Chen don’t leave traces, but Chanyeol somehow doubts those two were with them. Kyungsoo is with Minseok and Suho, so that means even if he’s passed out from bringing these massive walls down, he’s safe.

Chanyeol glances at Kai for a second, and smiles softly at the relief written on Kai’s face. In some ways Kai is more of a puppy than the officially-dubbed-puppy-by-every-member-Chanyeol . Especially in the fact that he thinks it’s up to him to protect Kyungsoo, while he always hides behind Kyungsoo when he’s somewhat intimidated. It’s really adorable to watch from a distance, but it kind used to be maddening that Kyungsoo allowed it because whenever Chanyeol even came close to Kyungsoo, he’d get a jab right under his ribs. Anyway.

Chanyeol mentally slaps himself. He keeps getting distracted by his own thoughts and it’s not getting him anywhere.  

So that leaves Sehun and Chen. If they're together, Chanyeol isn't worried in the slightest. Their powers reach a destructive maximum together, so they should be able to handle themselves pretty well. However, if they aren't together or they haven’t gotten their powers yet, and they're still wandering around this ever-changing maze, that could mean bad news. If that were to happen, there would still be a chance of survival for those two, being some of the best fighters Chanyeol’s ever witnessed.

"Wait!" Chanyeol starts and looks back irritated at Baekhyun, who’s staring off into the distance with his eyes pinched so that they’re barely slits.

Baekhyun has better eyesight than anyone, so when he points all the way to the door, none of them really know what he's talking about. Chanyeol squints, and he can see the door a little clearer, but he still can’t see what the hell Baekhyun is pointing at. That, and the dust hasn't settled yet, so it's hard to even see five meters ahead of them. It’s all just vague blurs and dark shapes.

"That was Chen leaving with Sehun!" Chanyeol doesn’t doubt him. This is exactly why Baekhyun was one of the most prestigious members of the intelligence corps three years ago, and Chanyeol know that, but it’s impressive all the same.

"Can you go after them?" Lay asks Kai behind them. Baekhyun bites his lip as if he already knows the answer to that question, and Chanyeol suspects it, too. It’s too far. Chanyeol looks back at Kai.

"No," Kai says, "taking someone with me multiple times is fucking tiring, so I don't think I'll make it further than the third wall." Kai looks down at his hands guiltily, as if it’s his fault. Chanyeol feels the need to tell him it’s not his fault, but he doesn’t.

Baekhyun nods and sighs. "Well, I guess we'll just have to go that way, then."

Chanyeol silently agrees. That's the easiest way out of here. The only risk is that there may be droids waiting for them on the other side, or that they might end up walking further away from the others. But it's the only choice they've got, Chanyeol decides. The sooner they're out of this maze, the better. He puffs out his cheek and looks back at the destruction caused by Kyungsoo. Great.

Other than Kai, Lay is the steadiest on his feet, so he leads the way. He sets a fucking brutal pace, agilely jumping over rocks and ducking under boulders faster than Chanyeol, with his stiff limbs and inflexible joints, ever could. Kai lags behind just a little, his body still tired from transporting Lay a total of five time - according to Kai. Baekhyun falls back every now and then to check up on him and to make sure they aren't being followed by anything. Every time he does that Chanyeol finds himself glancing back more and more, because Baekhyun is harder to spot than Kai for some reason. Even when Baekhyun is in front of him, Chanyeol keeps looking back, biting his lip nervously when he sees how tired or out of breath Kai is.

Suddenly Lay stops, holding up his fist, a gesture all too familiar to Chanyeol, and crouches down to the floor. "Do you guys hear that?" he whispers hoarsely, carefully placing his hand to the ground as if that would make the sound louder somehow. Chanyeol stills entirely, carefully listening to the deafening silence of the maze.

Chanyeol feels it before he hears it; a low rumbling in the ground that grows louder and stronger. It sets the hair on his arms on ends, and sends ripples passing over his spine, but he can’t tell where it’s coming from, frustratingly.

"Uhhh, guys," says Kai, and Chanyeol turns when he hears the slight tremble in his voice. Kai is pointing to something directly behind them. Chanyeol follows his gaze and gasps, panic seizing his limbs. A wall, standing about thirty meters tall at least, is racing towards them at an incredible speed, sending entire boulders flying in every direction. It cuts through most of the path, dividing it into two, out to kill anyone still left. Chanyeol has seen the wall change in this maze, but never like this. Usually, it’s kind of slow - no faster than a person can run - but now it’s racing, closing the distance between them quickly. They’re so fucked.

"RUN!" Baekhyun shouts, tugging at Chanyeol's arm to drag him along after him.

Chanyeol doesn't need to be told twice.

He bounds over the rocks, running as fast as his legs will allow him. Baekhyun is slower than him, so Chanyeol grabs his hand, dragging him alone and panic rising in his throat as the wall comes rushing towards them. The door is just up ahead, but it's still too fucking far away. Chanyeol leaps and dares to look behind him. The wall is closing in rapidly, and Chanyeol knows they're not going to make it. They’re going to be buried under layers upon layers of crushing rocks, either killing them instantly or suffocating them. Chanyeol would really rather not have a slow, painful death. He’d really rather not die at all.

So he grabs onto Baek's waist and whatever else he finds - which just happens to be Kai’s arm - and hauls them to the side, away from the rushing wall. He screams, a strange result of fear closing around his throat, and closes his eyes, protecting his friends heads from the flying rubble with his hands and his torso. He launches himself and his friends between two rather large boulders, hoping desperately that they’ll be protected. Just before the dust kicks up, he takes a deep breath and tucks his head down, pressing his nose into Kai’s hair.

For what can’t have been much longer than one miserable, merciless minute, Chanyeol stays there, his entire body clasped over some part of Kai or Baekhyun’s body. He fears for the impending crush of a rock, but all that lands on his body are a few small stones, none larger than a dime.

His chest is pressed against Baekhyun’s awfully bony shoulder, and Kai’s torso is protected by Chanyeol’s shoulder and arm. Chanyeol’s hips are placed right over all of Kai’s and partially over Baekhyun’s, while his legs fold awkwardly between the two rocks.

Kai decides it's safe before he does, squirming out from underneath Chanyeol's arms and running up to the wall, coughing his lungs out, but not seeming to care very much. It takes Baekhyun a little bit longer, just because Chanyeol doesn’t really realize what’s happening. His ears are red by the time he pulls his leg away from Chanyeol and runs after Kai.  

"Lay!" Kai shouts, running along the wall, ducking under rocks and tracing his hands along the edges, probably to find a crack in the wall. Baekhyun shares a glance with Chanyeol - they both know there are none. "Lay!" The desperation in Kai’s voice falls heavy on Chanyeol’s heart, making his throat thicken and guilt wash over him. What if Lay...

"Kai, wait!" Chanyeol says, reaching forward as if he could make it to Kai fast enough, suddenly recognizing the tense set in Kai's shoulders. Sure enough, a puff of blue smoke billows up, but Kai doesn't disappear. He turns to Chanyeol with tears in his eyes, Chanyeol’s own perturbation reflected in the way Kai’s face is twisted up as if in pain.

"Kai," says Baekhyun, a little calmer than Chanyeol feels and holding up his palms. A soft dome of light envelopes the three of them, engulfing them in warmth. "We need to stick together until we know he's alive. We both know that if you go to the other side you won't be able to come back."

It's true. Kai looks exhausted - his breath coming in uneven, erratic gasps and his eyes nearly drooping shut. He looks like shit. Still, Chanyeol gapes at Baekhyun, surprised he was able to pick up on that so quickly. Chanyeol wouldn’t have been able to do that if Baekhyun hadn’t pointed it out. That, and the fact that Baekhyun’s staying to calm. His jaw’s set and his face stony, but there’s no tremble in his hands or no shake in his words. He’s far more collected than Chanyeol.

Kai opens his mouth to protest, but then he spots something near the door. Before either Baekhyun or Chanyeol can stop him, he's sprinting towards it, leaping over the fallen boulders and ducking under a large rock, stumbling occasionally. It looks painful, but he just keeps going like a man possessed. Chanyeol bounds after him, quickly leaving Baekhyun behind. Shit, if Kai gets hurt now, they’re truly fucked.

When Chanyeol finally catches up to Kai, he sees the maze wall actually rammed _through_ the door, all the way to the opposing white wall. There's a tiny gap between the rock and the wall, but it's too damn narrow for any of them to fit through entirely. Not that Kai isn't trying to move some of the rubble out of the way, his breath still coming in rapid gasps as he claws away small stones. It's not use. They'll never get through on time. That is, if there even is time. Chanyeol feels sick rising in his throat at the thought. They can’t lose Lay, too.

"Guys?" a voice calls out. Chanyeol feels like someone punched him in the gut, leaving his gasping for air the way Kyungsoo managed to do quite a few times. Holy fuck, holy fuck, holy fuck.

It's muffled, raspy and quiet, but it's definitely Lay's voice. Baekhyun sighs in relief, his hand flying over his heart. Chanyeol didn’t even notice when he caught up.

"Guys, I'm stuck."

"Stuck? Stuck how?" Chanyeol pushes Kai out of the way with way more force than needed and speaks through the gap, attempting to make his voice as clear as possible. Kai flies back onto his ass, but neither he nor Chanyeol pay any attention to it.

"There's rock on my legs and I can't move it." Lay sounds panicked and in pain, his voice strained and thick. He whimpers loudly, the shifting of rock evident on the other side. Chanyeol bites his lip, his brain completely coming up empty on ideas. Fuck, Chanyeol, think! He’s got nothing, so he slaps the wall in frustration. Baekhyun rushes forward, an intelligent blaze in his eyes Chanyeol recognizes just vaguely.

"Okay," says Baekhyun, gently nudging Chanyeol aside to speak. Chanyeol steps back, and Baekhyun presses his face to the crack. "Lay, you need to stay still. Kai's coming over to your side." Baekhyun speaks in a calm, gently commanding voice that Chanyeol has never heard before. Lay only whimpers softly in response.

Kai looks up, his eyes wide. Baekhyun turns and nods to him, and he's gone, leaving that familiar blue smoke behind. Chanyeol clenches his teeth, anxiously anticipating a disaster. He's not sure why, but this entire situation is setting him more on edge than it should. Something is about to go terribly wrong, for whatever reason. Whether it's now or later doesn't matter. Soon.

Chanyeol is so lost in thought he nearly jumps a meter into the air when he hears Lay cry out in pain, and Baekhyun jumps back to avoid his flailing arms. The muffled clicks of more rocks falling or being thrown sound through the gap, and Kai's heavy breathing can be heard all the way on Chanyeol's end.

Baekhyun pushes his ear into the crack, eyes wide. Chanyeol tugs on the edges of his sweater, anticipation growing in his chest. God, it’s killing him.

"Kai?" asks Baekhyun urgently. "Kai, how is he?"

"He's fine. He’s just healing his legs now. I can't get back, though."

"That's alright," Chanyeol lies through gritted teeth. "We just have to find a way to navigate through the rooms and find the others. Do you guys have a hallway on your end?" He glances behind him. The hallway is darker than usual, with a dangerous, red glow shining from the lamps. He does _not_ want to go through there, but he has no choice. He turns back to the gap.

"Yeah," says Kai, his face appearing in the gap. He has Lay's arm around his shoulder, who mutters something about not being given enough time to heal himself. "Do want us to go there?"

"Anything is better than staying in the maze," says Baekhyun, running a hand through his black hair, brushing out the grey dust. "Go in, try to find as many members as you can."

"There's ice on our end," says Lay. Chanyeol bites his lip. That means Minseok, Kyungsoo and Suho went in Kai's direction. Chen and Sehun could've followed, but judging by the amount of open doors on their end it's unlikely.

"You two go look for Minseok and the others. We'll find Chen and Sehun," says Chanyeol, hating that he has to split them up again. It's not safe. It's stupid but he has to do it anyway. "Try to find the hangar room if you can, but otherwise go to the main med-bay."

The hangar would be the best place to meet up, Chanyeol decides. It's known to everyone and has means of escaping the entire building, but it's kind of hard to find. All the bigger hallways eventually lead to the med-bay, so that should be the back-up plan.

"Got it. I think we should also drop as many droids as possible," says Kai. "The less there are to chase us, the better."

Chanyeol wants to point out that it likely won't be the droids chasing them but the guards, but to be honest, he really wants to destroy some droids too. He nods.

"Stay alive, okay?" he says as parting words. It's super lame, but he honestly doesn't know what else to say. He can't really see all that much through the gap, but he thinks Kai and Lay smile.

"You too, idiots," says Lay, before being hauled away from the crack and into the hallway, stumbling a little as he tries to gain his own footing.

Chanyeol sighs and glances at Baekhyun, who nods in return. Fuck it all to hell, right?

With renewed determination in their steps, Chanyeol and Baekhyun enter the second maze - one of metal doors and white walls, with droids that look way too real and nightmares around every corner.

* * *

 

Chanyeol shivers. Somehow it's not as scary here when it's dark, but he's still fighting the urge to wrap his arms around himself and huddle in a corner. His boots echo eerily through the halls, and Chanyeol has to make sure about every minute that Baekhyun, who makes not even the tiniest noise, it still beside him. It’s fucking cold, even with these fatuous coats around their shoulders. There are light that flicker and every second Chanyeol spends walking he thinks he’s going more and more insane.

That is, until they find the first pieces of evidence of Chen and Sehun. There's a droid slumped against the wall, a scorch mark in the middle of her chest and an intricate cobweb of scarlet markings spreading out over her body. Her eyes are only half-closed, and sparks fly off from her neck occasionally.

Chen.

Chanyeol sees Baekhyun fail to suppress a smile. It's probably a terrible thing to say and all, but the way Chen kills is very satisfying. Out of everyone, he's the most merciful when he takes someone's life - always choosing to strike them in the heart and making sure they won't survive by using just the right amount of electricity. It's efficient and quick. It also never fails to leave a very distinguishable mark behind. Those red marking spreading out from the heart is typical for Chen. Chanyeol smirks, the second-hand gratification coursing through his body. God, he’s fucking diabolical.

"Subjects sixty-one and four."

Chanyeol whirls around so fast he's sure he feels his neck pop. Standing at the end of the corridor, near the rubble of the ruined wall and holding a dart gun is a droid, her black eyes scanning over them mechanically and her heels-clad feet slightly apart. She regards them with a strange expression Chanyeol has no good word for except hate. Fuck.

"Run," Baekhyun breathes, before turning around and dashing into one of the side hallways, his boots still making no sound. Chanyeol follows, his feet responding far too slowly for his liking. He slips and nearly falls just trying to make the same sharp turn Baekhyun made, before realizing that his stupid giant body won't maneuver as easily.

The next hall's lights are on, and Chanyeol gasps for breath as he crashes into the wall. Fuck, the floor's too slippery. Why is there water everywhere? But at least the corridor is long, so he has enough time to catch up to Baekhyun. He's faster by a large margin, so he's by his side in an instant. He runs ahead to the next door, panic taking over his system. The eery, sharp clicks of heels hitting the floor grows louder as the droid appears on the end of the corridor.

His breath comes in sharp gasps, but he’s not particularly tired. It’s more that his heart’s beating too fast for his body to keep up and oh, fuck, they’re so dead.

Chanyeol flinches as a loud alarm finally sounds, and the lights start to flicker all different colors. They go from green to blue to red, then suddenly they're dark. Chanyeol keeps running, slowing down from time to time to let Baekhyun catch up to him. The droid doesn’t sound like she’s running, but the clicking doesn’t fade away either. Shit. Shit. Shit.

Two large metal doors loom up at the end of the corridor, and Chanyeol nearly sighs in relief. They can lose the droid there if they could just-

Chanyeol crashes into it, hands pressing against the bars to open it. The door doesn't budge, not even when Baekhyun pushes on the other side. Chanyeol slams his entire body against the bar, but all the door does is give a miserable groan. He tries pulling, but that doesn’t work either. He punches at the glass, but it’s too thick - likely proofed for something far stronger than he.

Fuck. Chanyeol turns to face the droid, glancing for a second at Baekhyun, who looks about as panicked as he feels. They're gonna die. His heart's racing in his chest and he feels like he's going to throw up. They’re gonna die. The droid’s eyes narrow, and she almost looks human for a second. It just makes Chanyeol want to kill her more.

She aims. Adrenaline surges through Chanyeol's veins. His fingers tingle.

He closes his eyes and grabs Baekhyun's hand, squeezing tight and finding solace in Baekhyun’s soft, warm skin and the gentle but meaningful press of his palm against Chanyeol’s.

The dart hits him just under his collar, piercing through the white material and stinging his skin.

Baekhyun jumps a little next to him, presumably when the dart hits him as well. Chanyeol waits - perhaps for the burning to start or for the growing tingling in his fingers to die down again. Neither of them comes.

Instead a different pain flares up where the needle is still protruding from his collarbone - not quite burning, but painful all the same. It’s a dull ache, like a sore muscle after a long day of practice, that spreads slowly from his collar all the way to his toes and everything in between. It’s a dull ache that slowly grows until a stinging pain that feels more like he’s being attacked by a beehive worth of bees. It’s a dull ache that, without any fucking warning, pierces through his body like a thousand knives, leaving him breathless and crumpling to his knees, muscles suddenly too weak to carry him. His eyes fly open.

Chanyeol claws at his throat and gasps for air, coughing and spluttering, his left hand not once leaving Baekhyun’s. Baekhyun still stands, but there are tears streaming down his face as he’s doubled over, free hand clasped over his stomach, where the end of the syringe still protrudes. Chanyeol groans and gasps, his breath suddenly returning to him. The terrible, horrible pain fades too - thank fucking god.

It's all nearly enough to distract him from the fact that the droid is stepping closer, another syringe glinting wickedly in her hand. Now she really does look human, with her hair for some fucked up reason in a mess on her head, as if swept by a strong wind and a nasty smirk on her lips.

They're cornered, with no air in their lungs and no means of escape.

Fuck.

Chanyeol looks around wildly, desperate for any means of escape. There! Out of the corner of his eye, he spots a door - slightly ajar. His mind doesn’t even work for a second until he reaches a conclusion. If they run like hell, they might just make it.

So, before the droid can even take one more step, Chanyeol rushes forward, bracing his grip on Baekhyun’s hand and pulling him along after him. He runs towards the door, more or less dragging Baekhyun more than guiding him. The droid suddenly runs forward, too, but Chanyeol had expected that. He reaches forward and pushes the door open, hauling Baekhyun inside and cursing loudly.

"Oh, shit!" Chanyeol shouts as he quickly shuts the door behind Baekhyun, engulfing them both in darkness.

He can’t see shit, and there’s a vague ringing in his ear that doesn’t let him hear everything in the room. He’s lost hold of Baekhyun’s hand. "Baek?"

"I'm here," Baek says somewhere to his right, sounding a little breathless and impossibly small. Chanyeol reaches out, his fingertips grazing over the hem of Baek's shirt. Baekhyun takes his hand and squeezes lightly - a subtle gesture, but Chanyeol feels comforted anyway. "I can't see shit though." Chanyeol doesn't ask why Baekhyun doesn't just use his power.

Chanyeol takes a deep breath. Might as well try. He lets go of Baek's hand, and calls to the flames. For a horrible second, nothing happens - but then that familiar, intoxicating feeling surges through his body like a great sigh.

Fire blooms up in his hand, spreading familiar warmth through his entire body and engulfing him with energy. Chanyeol lets out something between a laugh and a sob, strange relief flooding through him. He hasn’t used his powers since before he thought he was going to die in that box - he was afraid he’d find that his fire could suddenly burn him or that he’d feel the same pain as that day.

But none of that happens. The fire dances playfully in his palm, embracing both Baekhyun and Chanyeol with its soft glow. Chanyeol looks at Baekhyun and finds him smiling fondly at the flames. It’s such a cute smile that rarely shows but always fills everyone with so much more warmth than Chanyeol’s fire ever could - Chanyeol knows he’s not the only one who thinks that way. But then Baekhyun seems to catch himself and looks away, choosing to scan the room instead. Chanyeol clenches his jaw, but then shakes his head. It’s stupid.

"We'll get out of here, Baek," says Chanyeol, confident again now that his powers returned. He looks at Baek and his sad, sad smile.

"I promise."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments will always be appreciated.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so i realized that I wrote this without planning a whole bunch, so it's not really turning out how it's supposed to. I may or may not rewrite the first few chapters so that they're not as shitty as they are, so stay tuned ;)

Minseok is lost and alone, running along darkened corridors filled with flickering lights and odd echoing silence that send chills down his spine. His head is full of shit that doesn't make sense - he doesn't know what's real anymore. 

That drug the droid managed to give him just before he was separated from Kyungsoo and Suho has taken his powers and is making the doors melt as soon as he touches them, like ice held over fire. The halls tilt and bend like a dormant ship in space, and Minseok is only ninety percent certain that those massive-ass spiders on the walls aren’t actually there. 

He doesn't feel safe. His stomach groans unhappily with every step he takes, hunger and queasiness sweeping through him like repeated tidal waves. The smell of chlorine he lost in the maze is back again, sending panic rippling through his bones. The gruelling images of his time spent in the rooms he’s chasing past flash through his mind undisturbed, the poison in his veins paving a way, lowering his defenses. His breath comes in agitated gasps - high-pitched wheezes resonating through the halls. 

He wants to be saved. 

Minseok halts, the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly standing on ends. He still entirely, not daring to make a move. There’s no sound. The entire section he’s been wandering for what feels like hours but can't have been more than ten minutes is completely silent. There’s no clicking of white heels on white tiles, fucked up screams or whirring of strange machines. 

He’s sighs, running a stressed hand through his hair and leaning back against a wall, before sinking down to a crouch. Tears prickle in his eyes, his cheeks burning in the cold, metallic air.

Calm down, he tells himself. You need to think. 

Not for the first time today he wishes he had a brain like Lay's or Suho's. He's not exceptionally smart like they are - he would place himself just under those two. He can’t figure out the motives of M.A.M.A. just judging from all the experiments or the condition of his friend based off vague description of a panicked, inexperienced warrior. He knows he often used to joke that Lay should’ve been in the intelligence unit, but he’s glad they’ve always had Lay to rely on, even when Suho took over as team-leader. He may the eldest, but he sure as hell wouldn’t trust himself to make decision when people like Lay and Suho were around.

If he just hadn't made the mistake of looking back... he would still be with Suho and Kyungsoo and they could've figured everything out together. He wouldn’t be panicking here like some child on his first mission. The others have the excuse of being new to situations like this - but Minseok has been on more missions than anyone. He’s lost more friends than he can count on both his hands and he’s failed more times than would be acceptable were he not the best fighter in all of the CM. Still, he needs his friends. 

What would Suho do? 

Minseok smiles and wipes the sweat from his brow. Suho's likely trying not to panic, too, and Minseok doubts he can come up with a good plan to get out when there's so many unknown factors. Suho may be a bit of a genius when it comes to making plans on the spot, but even he can’t do it this time. There’s just no way. 

One thing's for sure though: he would tell Minseok to get the others and get them out of here. Because that's their responsibility. To take care of the survivors and make sure they live. He's not the older brother for nothing. He’s been responsible for taking care of eleven younger brothers from the very start - and he’s not planning to let any of them down anymore. 

Minseok huffs out a resolute breath and stands, shaking his head as the hallucinations start again. He's fairly certain that the corridors isn't bathed in rainbow, or that the doors are shifting around from their places. Still, he can’t be too careful. He keeps a hand place firmly on the wall - he finds it helps him center just a little bit. He pinches his arm. 

Find the others. Get the fuck out of here.

"Subject number ninety-nine," a clear, chilling voice says behind him. Minseok turns and spots the distorted droid, her body twisted in ways that sends fresh waves of nausea rolling through him. Fuck. In her hand, glinting wickedly in the dimmed lights of the hall, is a massive syringe at least the size of his hand. An peculiar grin splits her mouth, revealing rows upon rows sickeningly yellow fangs very much resembling those of the creatures in the maze. Minseok staggers back a step, and suddenly the droid runs forward, her head flopping back and her arms swaying loosely. Fuck. Fuck. 

Without really thinking about anything other than survival he rushes forward and slams his fist into the droid's face with as much force he can muster. It hurts like a son of a bitch, but luckily for him, it's enough to send her flying back and onto her robotic ass. The pain that flares up in his knuckles shocks away some of the images in his head, and the droid morphs back into the shape of a woman. 

Minseok grins. 

"Not today, bitch," he growls before stomping on her face with his boot, completely crushing through the metal skull and into the silvery muck that is her artificial brain. She whirrs for a second, but then falls silent, her lifeless body crumpling to the floor. Silver liquid oozes from her head, suddenly looking very much like blood. 

Minseok inspects his knuckles, hissing when he pries a piece of glass from the shield in front of her eyes from his fingers. He’s bleeding, and his hand is fucked up and bruised, but he won’t die. Not of this injury, anyway. 

"Xuimin!" 

Minseok whirls around, groaning as bile rises in his throat. Too fast. Suho, who comes running up to him, is shaped more like a slug than a human, with slimy, green skin and a thick, blubbery body. His expression is bizarre too, but Minseok is fairly certain he isn't just imagining the horror on Suho's face when he spots the droid on the floor. It's kind of weird, cause Suho looks more like Minseok just killed a kitten instead of one of the droids that's been torturing them for months. "X-Xiumin, we gotta go."

"Where's Kyungsoo?" asks Minseok, looking around bewilderedly. He honestly can't tell if Kyungsoo is here or not, but judging by Suho's pained expression, he isn't. Minseok bites his lip. In Kyungsoo’s exhausted state, it’s not good if he’s alone. It’s very not good. 

"I lost him just after you got separated from us," Suho breathes, grabbing Minseok's sleeve and dragging him away from the droid, apparently eager to get away. Minseok resists, the room swaying way too much for him to walk on his own. "What did they give you?"

"I dunno," says Minseok, pinching the bridge of his nose as Suho guides him along. Minseok stumbles after him, but just barely. "I've been seeing some weird stuff. My powers are gone, too." He huffs. First, he loses his powers in that fucking maze, and now they're gone because of a hallucination drug. He was supposed to be able to protect Suho while he got his powers back too, but now he can't even do that. He can’t fight, either. Sure, he just outed a droid, but that was only one droid. He doesn’t want to imagine what happens when there’s two or a guard or something. 

"That's okay, I've got mine back a couple minutes ago," says Suho. Minseok sighs. That's a relief. Now they won't be defenseless, at least. Still, looking at Suho, Minseok can’t really decide how long they could last. The dark circles under Suho’s eyes seem blacker than usual, and though he tries to hide it, Minseok can see he’s out of breath and exhausted. If he were to use his powers longer than he can, he might just pass out. 

"What do we do now?" Minseok asks, the question weighing heavily on his shoulders. He prays Suho’s mind is working like it always does, the way it was trained to. He’s been trying to think of something by himself, but he’s been coming up flat.

Minseok can't move very well on his own, with his mind playing tricks on him, so splitting up to look for the others isn't an option. They would be able to do it - with Suho and Minseok's connection communication wouldn't be a problem. The only thing is that Minseok wouldn’t be able to protect anyone he found; in fact, he’d make them even more vulnerable with his presence. If, say, someone out of fighting condition like Kyungsoo had to both watch himself and Minseok… it wouldn’t end well. 

"I think we should head back," says Suho, biting his lip and looking around uncertainly. His eyes are wide with unease, and there’s a slight shake in his hands that Minseok knows he only ever gets to see. "You left footsteps behind, so I think at least someone is following us." 

Ah, yes. Usually Minseok can control that sort of stuff. Suho was very explicit about its importance when they were still training. This time, however, he’d decided not to even try. Let them find me, he’d thought. Looking back it probably wasn’t such a great idea. 

"What if it's the not the right someone though?" 

Suho rolls his eyes at him and Minseok smiles. No situation calls for sarcasm like possible imminent death does. The others don’t exactly appreciated Minseok’s dry humor like Suho does - for some reason it never registers with the self-proclaimed jokesters of the group as a joke. 

"Well then we smoke the sons of bitches and keep going," says Suho, grabbing Minseok by the arm and quite roughly pulling him close. He starts back towards the way he came, a flame in his eyes as he walks brusquely, dragging Minseok along with him. Well, damn. When did Suho get so aggressive?

"Sounds good," Minseok says, though he struggles to keep his footing with Suho’s fucking brutal pace. The walls are still melting and twisting, making Minseok dizzy, so he decides to close his eyes and trust Suho more than his own eyes. It's an easy decision. Though his history may be longer with some of the other members, Suho is definitely the one Minseok trusts the most. They’ve been through a fuckton together, Minseok being the second in command and Suho’s right hand man. He’s the only one who ever sees Suho’s low moments, even in situations like these. For some strange and probably not too great of a reason, it makes him feel kind of special - that they’re able to trust each other so utterly. 

Suho doesn’t make a sound as he runs. The only evidence of his presence is the surprisingly strong arm wrapped around Minseok’s waist and the increasing speed of his breath that occasionally blows against Minseok’s ear as Suho glances back. It’s excruciating. 

Minseok listens carefully for an extra set of footsteps, or the clicking of doors opening. It's still too quiet for his liking. But Suho's breathing calms him, though it's erratic and fast as they run. It's reassuring to have Suho of all people backing him. Not that he minds anyone else - the desolation that comes with Chen and Chanyeol, the sheer power in Kyungsoo and Sehun, getting rid of these fucking hallucinations that he would get from Lay, or the ability to get away quickly with Kai and Baekhyun all seem like logical choices. But Minseok knows better than anyone that nobody will keep a leveler head than Suho. 

Suho is someone to fall back on. He's someone with a plan. 

"We're almost back at the maze," says Suho suddenly, startling Minseok. He slows to more of a swift march, which, to be honest, Minseok appreciates more than he should. Not that he’s particularly tired - it takes a  _ lot  _ to make him lose his breath - it’s just disorienting as fuck to run with his eyes closed. 

"How do you know?" 

Suho stops and releases his hold on Minseok. 

"There's rubble up ahead. Wait, check to see if you're still hallucinating."

Minseok really doesn't want to, just because the nausea is just starting to fade and he really doesn't want it back again, but he supposes it's better just to be sure. He reaches out his hand, which Suho takes readily. It’s an assurance more than a safety, but Minseok needs it. Suho always understands what he means - he doesn’t need to say a single thing. 

Slowly, he opens his eyes. Through the crack of his eyelids, he can just about make out the unmoving, untwisted silhouettes of rocks and boulders that managed to ram through the walls. Relieved, Minseok opens his eyes all the way. 

Immediately he's blinded by the bright light, burning his eyes and making his knees buckle beneath him. It’s like staring directly into the sun, a light shining intenser than perhaps even Baekhyun. It hurts. Minseok cries out brokenly, pressing his palm to his eyes and doubling over in an attempt to block out the blaze. 

"Xiumin?!" Suho asks panickedly, his hands roaming feverishly over Minseok's shoulder. Minseok shakes his head, desperately willing tears to wash away the stinging burn in his eyes. They don't come. "Xiumin, what's wrong?"

Keeping his eyes screwed shut, Minseok's hands fumble for the hem of his shirt. It takes him three tries at least to get a grip, as his hands are shaking too damn much. 

He tears a piece off, hoping it's long enough to tie around his head. He holds it up to Suho, his jaw clattering too much for him to speak and eyes aching with the fury with which Minseok is keeping them shut. He just hopes Suho gets his meaning. 

He does. 

Minseok sighs in relief when the cloth settles over his eyes. The burn isn't gone yet, but at least he won't be able to accidentally open his eyes. He's shaking, pain rippling through his body when Suho quietly takes him by the elbows to help him up. Oh, fuck. Suho stays silent. 

Minseok wonders only for a moment why Suho isn't asking any more questions, the absence of his voice stark in the quiet halls, but then he hears the soft gasp coming from his friend. 

"Holy shit," Suho breathes quietly. He walks forward slowly, his hands settled on Minseok’s shoulders as he drags him along. His fingers dig almost painfully into Minseok's shoulders, and Minseok nearly trips twice as Suho forgets to warn him about the debris ahead. He grumbles disgruntledly, but Suho doesn’t even respond. He just keeps walking, as if in some sort of daze, and worry starts to nag at the back of Minseok’s mind. 

"What is it?" Minseok asks anxiously. He hates not being able to see anything.  It's a clever drug they made - but then again what about this place isn't scarily intelligent? 

"One of the walls from the maze is blocking the way."

Okay… that makes no sense whatsoever. The way Suho describes it doesn’t really tell him anything, and all Minseok can do is sigh in frustration. He does. 

"What do you mean?" 

"I'm saying there's a giant stone wall preventing us from going any further." 

For whatever reason, Minseok isn’t even surprised. The walls shift all the time in that place, and this could explain that loud rumbling they heard several minutes after they got back into the lab. It does raise a few questions, though. 

Minseok bites his lip. What if the others are still stuck in the maze? Suho and him followed Kyungsoo recklessly - they were desperately trying to get away from the maze. Suho was panicking, his mind undoubtedly full of images of what happened last time, and Minseok didn't know what to do. Kyungsoo had seemed to sure of himself, but now Minseok doubts his decision. Suho doesn’t show it when he’s panicking, so Kyungsoo must’ve thought he’d gotten an “okay” for his plan. He hadn’t.

"Xiumin! Suho!" 

Minseok starts, throwing up his hands reflexively before he actually recognizes the voice. 

Minseok wants to cry. That voice. He drops his hands. 

"Chen!" he calls out, turning towards the sound of people running towards him. All he wants to do is rip off his blindfold, just to see Chen, but he doesn't. He can’t. "Chen!" 

Minseok lets out a dry sob when two familiar, strong arms wrap around him, pulling him snugly against Chen's chest. Chen buries his face in Minseok's neck, letting out a long breath. Minseok clutches to the back of the plastic coat, pressing his face snug to the crook of Chen’s neck, breathing in that familiar scent. Oh fuck. Minseok had forcibly been keeping Chen and the other fighters out of his head, telling himself he didn’t need to worry about them. But now that he’s here, safe and wet eyes soaking the collar of Minseok’s sweater, Minseok realizes that,  _ fuck, he was so worried.  _

"Are you alright?" Suho asks, presumably to whoever is with Chen. Three heavy footsteps near Suho quickly, and Minseok can hear two solaced sighs. 

"Yeah," says Sehun somewhere to Minseok's right. His voice is muffled, the deep vibrations thick and croaky. He’s been crying, Minseok realizes. 

Minseok tugs Chen closer, letting him hide entirely in Minseok’s embrace, suddenly wanting to protect him from all harm that might come their way while also hiding in the safety of Chen's arms.

"You?" Sehun asks. 

"I'm fine, but they gave Xiumin some kind of drug." Minseok can feel Chen's breath hitch at those words, and he pulls back, probably to inspect his face. "He was hallucinating, and then his eyes started to hurt."

The pad of Chen's thumb presses just under the cloth covering Minseok's eyes, and Minseok reaches up to grab Chen's wrist. He rubs his thumb over the soft skin just under his palm. He’s cold. 

"I'm fine, Chen," he says resolutely. He knows he doesn't exactly look convincing - he probably isn't even facing Chen properly and his hands are still shaking. Chen sniffles and guides Minseok's free hand to his own cheek. He can feel the wetness there, and it shoots bursts of pain through his chest. He shushes him quietly, his mouth suddenly dry with anxiety. 

Though it hurts him to hear and feel Chen hurt, they don't have time. On top of that, it's crucial Chen stays in control. He can hear the others shuffling away nervously. Minseok catches himself thinking of leaning away from Chen, just in case, but he doesn’t. Fuck, but it’s scary to have Chen crying on his shoulder. 

"Chen, we need to find the others."

Chen sniffles and nods against Minseok’s hand. Minseok can hear the relieved sighs to his left. 

"Xiumin, can you use your powers?" Suho suddenly asks. Minseok shrugs and thrusts out his hand. The air around him grows cold, and he feels ice shooting up from the ground to meet his hand. Like calls to like. Minseok does an awfully poor job of covering up how relieved he is to have his powers back. He could just about jump into the air with joy."Good. Cover the floor with it."

Minseok grins. Trust Suho to come up with a genius plan like this. He does as he's told, focusing his energy on the metal floor. It comes so naturally to him, yet he feels like he's lived without it for years. It hasn't been five hours, he estimates. 

He can tell the exact moment Suho melts the ice. The air changes and suddenly he's more connected to the entire hall. It's nearly as if he can see. The ripples that could come through the water are like a transmission sent directly to him. Only Suho and himself can use it. It’s an old trick, one that they’ve used countless times over the past three years. Minseok was never made for reconnaissance missions, but he found he was surprisingly good at it. Never as masterful as the intelligence unit, but proficient enough. 

Minseok can feel the shivers passing through Chen and Sehun as the cold pierces through. Minseok and Suho aren’t affected by it - they’re in their element. 

Suho feels it a fraction of a second before Minseok does. 

Ripples. Big ones. 

Someone is running right towards them. Someone without a heartbeat. 

"Sehun, can you propel everyone out of the water at the same time?" Minseok asks urgently, releasing his hold on Chen and turning towards where he thinks Sehun is. He was right. The elevated heartbeat comes from right in front of him. Wait, but that may be Chen. There's too many to tell now. He must've freaked the others out when he and Suho reacted to the ripples. 

"I think I could take all of you with me once," says Sehun, sounding nervous but certain. Minseok nods - that'll be enough. 

"You don't have to take Chen with you. Chen, you give the water everything you've got on my command. Suho, block off the water behind the ripplers," says Minseok, taking in a deep breath when he's done. Judging from Suho's little grunt, he understands what he has to do perfectly. He better, because everyone else standing on the floor throughout most of the lab - including their friends - is dead. He cracks his knuckles nervously. 

"Uhhh," says Chen nervously, tugging at Minseok sleeve. "What's going on?"

"We've got incoming and he's asking you to smoke 'em," says Sehun, all his anxiety seemingly melted like snow in the sun. His heartbeat tells a different story, but Minseok appreciates his ability to keep his composure anyway. He nearly warns Sehun to be careful, but that wouldn't be the best thing to say right now. The last thing they need is for Chen to get anxious. That would be catastrophic. 

"Oh," says Chen sheepishly. "Okay."

Minseok laughs. He's missed everything about being together with his friends, but conversations like these really take the cake. No doubt the others are looking at him strangely now, but he doesn't care. He can't afford to care now that their incoming friends are less than two-hundred meters away from them. His smile fades quickly. 

A minute passes. 

He can feel it when the others start to shift, nervousness evident now. His ears pop as the pressure around him drops, telling him Chen's already drawing on his power. It's crucial that Chen's timing is perfect, because otherwise everyone else is dead. It's kind of nerve-wracking, but Minseok wouldn't have it any other way. The rushing adrenaline and his racing heart give him that familiar thrill that he really shouldn’t be having right now. 

"Steady," he says, needing the impending force of doom to get a little closer. "Steady..." There! "Now!"

He feels himself propelled into the air by a powerful burst of air, and hears the horrible, deafening crackling sounds as Chen's lightning slams into the water. Wind blows roughly in his face, sucking all breath from him and nearly blowing the cloth from his eyes. 

Minseok can only hope Suho managed to maintain his end of the plan, but he's fairly confident in his friend's skills, especially under pressure. The sound coming from Chen is enough to drown out the reaction from the droids, but Sehun lowers them back into the water fairly quickly. Minseok can’t sense shit, and he curses that droid for the nth time that day. 

"Did you get them?" Minseok asks, reaching out his arms, looking for some kind of support. Sehun, probably, takes his hand in his own and starts to walk forward towards where the ripples were coming from. Minseok really can't tell if it was effective. There's no ripples anymore, but considering there was no heartbeat in the first place, they could just be staying perfectly still. "Sehun?"

Sehun doesn’t say anything, but his grip on Minseok’s hand becomes vise-like, nearly crushing Minseok’s hand. Minseok curses softly, but he doesn’t attempt to pry his hand out of Sehun’s. He can feel the angry tremble there. He’s no fool.

"This doesn't make any sense," Suho breathes somewhere behind him. "No..." Sehun's hand is  _ really _ gripping Minseok's too tight, and Chen is breathing quickly nearby Suho. Something is very wrong, and it frustrates Minseok that he has to ask. He worries for a moment about Chen, as the others undoubtedly do too. He can tell they're apprehensive from the way they're shifting, slowly edging away from Chen. They have a right to, but Minseok doesn’t think it’s wise to show it openly like this. 

"How does this not make sense?" says Sehun angrily, yanking roughly on Minseok’s hand, likely out of frustration. "We just killed eleven guards!"

What? No, that can't be right. If Minseok's assumptions are correct and lying in front of him are the guards they've been seeing for months, there's been a grave mistake. 

"Wait, Suho's right. It doesn't make any sense!" Minseok says frantically. His throat tightens as he calculates the possibility. He's fine with killing droids, but those guards were supposed to be human. "The guards here are human!"

"Yeah, and?" Sehun snaps. There's a growl in his voice that only appears when he's furious, but Minseok doesn't know who it's directed at. Fuck. This doesn’t make any sense! Why would they make non-identical droids? Minseok’s heart’s racing in his chest. 

"They had no heartbeats before," says Suho quietly. It's enough to still Sehun completely. His grip on Minseok’s hand relents a little, but it seems like he’s more shocked than anything. Minseok hisses as blood rushes back into his fingertips, but he still doesn’t move his hand. "That's why it doesn't make any sense."

"We can worry about it later," says Chen shakily. "Right now we need to get to the others and out of here." 

Right. Their first priority is making sure the others are still alive. If they are, they're further than Minseok's ice reached, because he can't feel anything. Not even more guards or a droid. It’s unsettling. 

"Chen, you good?" Sehun asks hastily. A sudden tension fills the corridor. They’re afraid. Chen scoffs and does something Minseok can't see, but the other two seem a little calmer. "I agree with you, we need find them."

"I've got five others," says Suho suddenly and loudly. Minseok flinches.

"How? I can't feel anything."

"I took the liberty of spreading the water as far as I could. Maybe the ripples are too subtle for you to notice." That makes sense. Though his power is very much water based, he doesn't have as strong of a connection to it in its liquid form as Suho does. If it were ice, there would be no ripples, but he's still limited in the water. He very much so wishes he could open his eyes. Oh well, it's nothing the amazing Yixing can't fix. He flexes his free hand and clenches his jaw. 

"But do you know where exactly they are?" Sehun asks. He sounds calmer, his voice back to the peculiar childish raspiness it was before. Minseok loves that about Sehun - he’s downright scary when he’s angry, but he’s still such a child sometimes. 

"Yeah, but it doesn't matter. We're going to the hangar bay." Minseok doesn't ask why Suho suggests the hangar bay, simply because he knows Suho's powers are extremely extensive. He can form a body with water, which he can use to communicate with others. Minseok can do the same, but the words always get slightly distorted in the ice. Suho’s powers are basically everything that fits with a leader - he can be both gentle and sensitive as much as he can be deadly and commanding. 

Someone walks over and takes Minseok's other hand. Chen. Minseok squeezes slightly, smiling when he receives the same response. Chen seems calmer. Good. 

"Let's get out of here," says Sehun, before pulling Minseok along with him.

* * *

 

Nearly twenty minutes later they finally arrive at the hangar bay, where the others are waiting for him. Lay, Kyungsoo and Kai seem positively exhausted, all slumped against the wall and sweating profusely. Chanyeol and Baekhyun, on the other hand, can't seem to sit still, anxious in two very different ways. Minseok can't see them, but the water tells him enough. The erratic ripples aren’t similar, and Minseok can’t exactly see who is most exhausted, but he knows enough. 

Especially as soon as they seem to spot Sehun, Suho, Chen and Minseok, their feelings become clear. Chanyeol, who hasn't seen anyone but Sehun for months lunges forward, immediately sweeping Chen and Suho in his massive arms, making Chen let go of Minseok's hand. He seems to know that Minseok is fragile at the moment, because all Minseok gets is a clap on the back. It's enough, though. 

Sehun doesn’t let go of Minseok’s hand, which he appreciates. Though he can kind of see, it’s reassuring to have Sehun by his side. 

From what he remembers the hall before the hangar bay is big. Metal lining the walls all the way up to the tall, tall ceiling and two corridors leading to different sections of the labyrinth of rooms. Two massive and heavy doors taking up the entirety of the outside wall, big enough to let through a small plane. The room itself is just big enough to fit a basketball field. They’re vague memories from many months ago, but Minseok won’t be able to forget the first day here even if he tried. 

Kai slowly gets up from his position on the floor, leaning heavily on Baekhyun for support and stumbling more than walking through the water. He's shivering by the time he reaches Minseok, and Minseok wishes he could warm them up instead of cooling them down. He lets go of Sehun’s hand, though, and offers up his palms to Kai. Kai clasps his hands around Minseok’s forearm, pulling him close and seemingly shrinking the closer he gets. 

Minseok wraps one arm around Kai in attempt to be comforting, but honestly, Minseok feels like crying. He feels the ridges of Kai’s rib clearly under his fingertips, and every shock that resonates through him with every stifled sob. Minseok doesn’t know what Kai went through just now, but he knows it was a lot.  

"What happened to them?" asks Suho. Minseok can only assume he's talking about the three zombies that were quite alright when they started the maze. A lot can happen in five hours, Minseok thinks. He only knows Kyungsoo was already exhausted when they got separated, but he’s not sure about the other two. It could be that they got exhausted in the maze or in the lab, or possibly both.  

"All used their powers too much," says Chanyeol darkly. "What about him?"

"Got injected with a weird drug. He's fine, but he can't see without being in pain," says Sehun before Minseok can even open his mouth. Minseok clenches his jaw, irritated. "Ow!" Sehun exclaims when Minseok manages to accurately punch his arm. Kai chuckles softly from his position by Minseok’s side, and despite everything, Minseok smiles too. 

"How the hell did they know we were trying to escape?" Lay asks angrily. Minseok flinches, his brief moment of joy melting away. Suho mentioned it before they got separated, too. Either someone betrayed them or they were found out in some other way. He can't really decide which is worse. To have someone they trust, someone of their own kind, sell them out to people who could possibly kill them at any moment, or to have M.A.M.A. know every secret there is to know about their powers. Both would fucking suck. 

Sehun’s heart pounds quickly, nearly like a fucking rabbit, while the boy himself doesn’t make a move. He feels… terrified. 

What?

Then it clicks. It was fucking Sehun. It makes sense. How else was he the only one allowed to see Chanyeol, and how else was he the only one who survived the incident that killed three of their own kind? He's been strange for a while, Minseok thinks. Ice cold rage courses through his veins, and hot tears prickle in his eyes. Fuck. All the wants to do is kill the bastard right there, but he refrains, though he’s not sure why. 

"We got incoming," says Suho suddenly, snapping Minseok from his thoughts. A second later Minseok feels it too. Ripples. "Have you managed to get the door open yet?"

"Err..." says Kai, pressing closer and moving in a way that feels like a shrug, "we were planning to use Xiumin for that." 

Minseok nods. The hangar doors are massive - giant blocks of steel that are nearly impossible to break through by force. It's obvious Kai won't be able to get them all to the other side, so someone with a lot of offensive power will have to break through. Chanyeol and Chen are useless in that aspect, seeing as these doors have probably been fire-proofed. It's unlikely Sehun and Suho will be able to do much either, and Kyungsoo seems like he's passed out. The only option is for Minseok to freeze the steel and then break through it with well-aimed ice. He sighs. 

There's one problem. Minseok has no idea where he has to aim or if he even can aim. There are vital weak spots he’d have to hit and he has no clue where they are or if he even could hit them. 

"How many are there?" Lay asks from his position on the floor. He's scooted closer to Kyungsoo, probably trying to shield him with his own body. He sounds exhausted, his voice all thick and droopy, and Minseok can’t help but imagine his eyes half-closed. Kyungsoo isn’t conscious, but he stirs just a little, drawing the attention of everyone present. Minseok can feel Kai shift nervously beside him, and so he clasps Kai’s soft hand in his own. 

"Way too many," says Suho. "And there's three heartbeats."

Minseok gulps. Kai jumps a little at the mention of heartbeats, a soft whine coming from his throat. Suho, Chen and Sehun shiver collectively, no doubt sharing looks and thinking about the guards they left behind. Minseok thinks he speaks for everyone when he says none of them are up for killing a human, even if that human has tortured them for months. 

"There's that woman, then," says Kai, his voice shaky and broken. Minseok frowns. He doesn't think he's ever heard Kai sound so nervous. They’ve been in countless impossible situations together, have thought they were going to die more than should be acceptable, but never, never has Kai been so nervous. Whoever this woman is, she scared the hell out of Kai. 

"What woman?" Sehun asks, voice shooting up when he hears the panic in Kai’s voice.  

"Kim Judy, head of the science department at M.A.M.A.," a cool, chilling voice sounds from the corridor to their right. The effect is immediate. The entire room falls quiet, except for Kai, who actually fucking  _ whimpers _ . Minseok doesn't do anything, but he can feel the air grow colder and colder in the woman's presence. It’s like nobody is able to speak anymore, deafening silence filling the room, chilling Minseok to the bone. He shivers, hairs standing on end on the back of his neck. He can’t even see her - Kim Judy - but he already fears her. 

A rough hand - Minseok guesses it's Chanyeol's - taps against Minseok's side, prompting him to get started. Minseok obliges, calling the frost to him and onto the wall, as quietly and quickly as he can. They have to work fast now, with this woman of obvious superior intelligence in front of them. They can’t work too fast, though, because then the ice’ll get loud. Fuck. Minseok lets go of Kai’s hand, steadying the ice now that he can use both hands. 

The woman - Judy, whatever - walks somewhere, but Minseok can't really tell where she's going. He can’t focus on the water now that he has to focus on the ice. That is, until Kai jerks up,  _ growling,  _ heat radiating from his body. 

"Get away from them," he hisses, his voice low and dangerous. So, she's near Kyungsoo and Lay. That's not good. Minseok's coat whirls at his feet, wind sweeping through the halls as Sehun's anger rises. Minseok grits his teeth. This is getting out of hand too quickly. 

"Tsk, tsk. That won't do," says the woman mockingly. Minseok is kind of glad he can't see her face, because with that voice, it can't be anything but terrifying. "As for how I found out about your little plan, I guess time will tell." Oh fuck. 

"Suho, I can't aim," Minseok whispers as quietly as he can. He would ask Sehun - the one with the best aim - but he’s honestly not sure if he can trust him anymore. The cold squeeze of water around his ankles tell him Suho heard him. Minseok’s arm shake just a little, his body still not recovered from the drug still roaming in his system. He’s getting tired too quickly. 

"Now, why don't we all go back to our cells, and forget this ever happened?" 

Her voice is sweet like honey, drawing them all in like flies. But Minseok has had too many nightmares to believe anything these people try to tell him. And he's certain the others feel the same. He bites the inside of his cheek, hard enough to draw blood. He isn’t sure why he does it, but for some reason the sharp pain centers him, helps him focus. 

Don’t listen to her, focus on your task. 

"No? Fine. Ah, twenty-one, that hair won't do."

Minseok scoffs. Their hair's been strictly styled their whole time here, but Chen's is probably standing on ends from his powers. That this person cares about  _ that _ really amazes him, but it's kind of scary at the same time. Chen makes a taken-aback sound, his hand no doubt flying to his hair.

"Get them."

If anyone is startled by how quickly her voice turned venomous, they don't show it, though it sends ripples resonating through Minseok. Instead, they spring into action.

Sehun pulls Lay and Kyungsoo close in one massive swoop of air, and they come skidding over the water. Lay yells something incoherent, landing in Chanyeol’s arm with a painful-sounding thud. Kai stoops low next to him, and Minseok winces as Kyungsoo’s boot knocks against his shin, hard. 

The air in front of them suddenly burns hot, no doubt with Chanyeol’s wild and uncontrollable flames. Even through closed eyes and the cloth, Minseok can see the brightness of it. It singes the hairs on the back of his hand, but he doesn’t once relinquish his hold on the frost. _ Keep the ice alive.  _

Minseok steps forward and throws his hands up, quickly pulling twelve big icicles from the water and throwing them as high as possible. He puts his faith in Suho’s capable hands entirely and ducks down, allowing Chen to cover his head. He yells, his throat sore and raspy, as the ice crashes into the door, showering them all in tiny, razor-sharp shards. 

"Fuck!" Lay yells. "We need more ice!" 

Minseok throws up his hands again, chill already creeping over his back. Crap, he's too tired. 

"Let me do it!" Sehun shouts at Suho. Before Minseok can protest, air rushes past him and the ice crashes into the door again. It’s absolutely silent for a moment, the only sound being the rush of the flaming wall and the labored breathing coming from their side. Then the door gives a great groan, and Minseok releases his hold on the ice, letting it melt under Chanyeol’s wrath. 

"We're bringing the entire place down!" Chen yells panickedly. Fuck.

Minseok feels it more than he hears it. The doors collapsing gives just as many vibrations in the ground as bringing down several walls does. The entire floor shakes, and Minseok, Sehun and Suho have just enough time to throw up a protective barrier as debris fills the air, raining down on them like water. 

Next to him, Baekhyun screams, voicing the absolute terror Minseok feels. Except Minseok can't bring himself to scream, his lungs too cold for him to make a sound. Crashes and bangs fill his ears, deafening him. His arms shake as he attempts to hold up the ice and all the rubble on top of it, his eyes screwed shut even under the cloth blinding him. Adrenaline courses through his veins, making it both impossible to think and overflowing his brain with unnecessary information. His ears pop, and he knows Sehun is pushing against the rubble as well, but Minseok knows it’s not enough. His entire body aches, both with the bite that his powers leave behind and the weight of massive boulders crushing him. 

_ Please, just get this shit off of me.  _

"The boulder!" Sehun shouts, his voice strained as the pressure around them increases. He sounds out of breath, like he’s simultaneously pushing off the rubble from the ice dome. It seems like he cares enough about keeping them alive to help them out.  Not that it's for any good purposes, Minseok thinks bitterly. 

"Got it!" Suho yells back. He gives a great shout, his voice breaking and raspy, and a large portion of the weight on Minseok's ice gets lifted, but it's still too heavy. Minseok gives a soft mewl in spite of himself, tears leaking from his eyes and entire body trembling, even as Chen reaches behind him to support his torso with his own. Fuck, it hurts. "Get the beams!"

They need Kyungsoo. None of their powers were meant for this. Kyungsoo’s out. They’ll have to it themselves. Fuck. 

Slowly but surely, sections of weight get picked off the ice, and Minseok gasps deeply. He tests the ice carefully. Then, with a great yell and a  _ lot  _ of tears, Minseok pushes up, throwing the remainder of the debris off of them. He collapses into Chen. 

His breath comes in shaky, raspy gasps and his body shakes terribly. He can't move, the frost taking up everything, every ability, every muscle. His skin his hard and bumpy, his heart a lump of ice and his tears freezing before they leave his face. He's not even able to curl into a ball to warm himself. 

"Chanyeol!" Chen says hurriedly, hands clutching over Minseok's as he blows his warm breath onto Minseok’s frozen fingertips.

Chanyeol rushes to his side, his steps loud and disoriented. He lets his hands travel over Minseok's skin, hot and nearly burning him. It works both ways. Chanyeol sighs in relief as Minseok's freezing skin cools his own burns. Minseok groans as the feeling returns to his body. Fuck. It hurts. Chanyeol steps back, and Chen helps Minseok stand. 

"Come on, we gotta go!" Lay yells, helping Sehun lift Kyungsoo onto his back. Minseok doesn't need to be told twice, but he can't maneuver through the rubble on his own. He reaches out bewilderedly, Chen having suddenly disappeared from his field of feeling. There’s nobody there. 

"I got you!" Suho shouts behind him, lifting him with a wave of water, over the debris and through the destroyed doors. 

Minseok gasps. Fresh, cold air. It drowns him completely, washing away all thoughts of the nightmare behind him temporarily. It’s so beautiful. It feels awfully dry in his lungs and tastes kind of sandy - but  _ fuck,  _ they’re free! The soft howls of wind flow over his ears, enveloping him in pure bliss. 

A feral screech brings him back to reality. 

"No!"

It's the woman. Rubble shifts as she stands and a few others follow her. Suho gently sets Minseok on the floor, not bothering to suck away the remaining water. Minseok can't blame him, but it's fucking cold in the open air. 

The sound of phaser-guns powering up in the distance send the nine of them scooting closer together, everyone trying to shield at least someone. 

"Don't kill them!" If the woman wants them alive, it's probably not a good thing. 

"Chen?" Lay asks, his voice trembling with nerves. "Chen, what are you doing?"

Chen has walked off somewhere to the right, but Minseok can't tell where. He's never actually seen the hangar bay, but logically speaking it should just be a massive hall with one of the walls missing. There’s no abundance of water here, but it would make sense if there were at least a few cars here. 

"I'm bringing the entire place down," says Chen calmly. He sounds far away, and Minseok shifts nervously. This doesn’t sound good. Fuck, he  _ has  _ to see. 

Carefully, he pries off the bandage around his eyes, the need to see too great to bear. Light floods his vision, and it hurts, but not enough to send him to his knees this time. He clenches his jaw and blinks away the light that floods in through the bay doors, focusing instead on the darkness where he heard the woman. 

He gasps quietly. He'd expected some hideous and terrifying face, but instead he finds beauty in those cold, cold eyes. Lips so red they nearly seem to be dripping with blood, and hair whiter than snow. He swallows nervously, his throat suddenly thick. The lines of her body seem to been carved by the gods, the elegance of it rivalling Kai’s. 

Those eyes. They betray the beauty that is her face and her body. They're cold, grey and... pure evil. It’s the only word he can come up with. There is beauty there, too, but they make him understand why Kai was so terrified of this woman. She makes his heart race and the hairs on the back of his neck stand up, but all the same he feels that pull towards her. Deep down, he knows she's evil, but he wants to believe differently. That kind of power...

Fuck! Too quickly he turns to where Chen is standing - all the way by the wall. He groans. The sudden shift in light makes his head hurt, but he focuses on Chen with all he's got. 

A switch. Chen stands, his fingertips lit up with crackling, bright electricity, by some sort of master switch that seems to connect to at least a large part of the building. There’s wires covered by pipes running from the switch to the roof, where it spreads in a bunch of different directions. 

Oh. That's what he meant. And that's also why nobody is trying to stop him. They approve. Minseok grins. Take that, bitch. It’s probably not a great thing to say, seeing as they don’t know just how much of the building he’ll take down, if it’ll even work or how wrathful that woman is, but Minseok likes the fury in Chen’s eyes. It’s hot. 

"Argh!" Chen cries out suddenly, clutching at his eyes. Baekhyun stands over him, light fading from his hands and an oddly blank look on his face. 

Wait, what? What the fuck?

"Baek, what are you doing?!" Kai cries, reaching forward. This doesn't make any sense. Why would Baek stop Chen? How the actual fuck did he get there so quickly?

Horrible realization dawns on Minseok. It twists his insides with guilt and disgust and an overwhelming emptiness all at the same time. Something between a breathless sob and a gasp tears itself from his throat, leaving it sore and broken. Fuck. 

"You want to know how we found out about your little plan?" the woman sneers, smiling with manic glee. The honey in her voice is laced with venom again, but this time Minseok doesn’t care. "Baekhyun here was nice enough to tell me personally." 

Baekhyun. 

She didn't refer to him by his number. 

Baekhyun slowly walks towards the woman, dropping his hands and letting his head droop as he approaches her, as if in a trance. The woman snakes a possessive hand around his neck, holding him in a place. And he stays there, not looking like he was forced to be there, but not meeting their eyes either. 

Chen makes a strangled noise from the door, slowly crawling back to the group on his hands and knees. Minseok glances at him, drinking in the pained look on his face. Before he turns back to Baekhyun and that… woman, he glances at Chanyeol. 

Oh. The void of Chanyeol’s face. His face is so blank. Minseok tears his gaze away, his stomach not strong enough to look at Chanyeol any longer. 

"Baek, tell me she's lying," says Chen, his voice already thick with tears. Kai reaches for Minseok's hand, shocks resonating through him as he sobs. This isn't good. This is really not good. "Baek?"

"She's manipulating him!" Suho yells, surging forward when Sehun does. For one second Minseok thinks he’s going to go after Baekhyun, but instead he wraps his arms around Sehun’s broad torso, grunting as Sehun, rage etched into his tear-streaked face, tries to run to Baekhyun. Oh. “Baek, just come back to us!” Suho pleads. 

"No, I'm not," Judy says calmly, smirking evilly. She flashes them a small smile, before she tugs gently at Baekhyun’s neck. She presses her red lips to his, stepping close to him and tugging on his coat with her free hand. 

For a miserable second Minseok thinks Baekhyun is going to push her away, that he’s going to blind her with his brilliant light and run away. He doesn’t. He wraps his arms around her waist deepening the kiss and pulling her snug against him. She bites his lip, as if she’s trying to prove that he’s hers, and Baekhyun  _ moans. _

Chanyeol takes a shaky step forward. 

"Baek?" It's more of a whimper than a question, the way Chanyeol calls out Baek's name. It's so small, like a child calling out for help when it's hurt. It breaks Minseok's heart more than anything since they first came out of that maze months ago. It fills him with shame - shame on Baekhyun’s behalf. It makes him angry not because Baekhyun just betrayed them all, but because Baekhyun managed to bring Chanyeol down to that level. 

"I'm sorry, Chanyeol," says Baekhyun plainly, his face betraying no emotion at all. He’s a void. His hands drop from Judy's waist, and he turns to face the people of his kind - his family. "But I had no choice."

"You bastard!" Sehun explodes, his voice cracking horribly as he struggles in Suho's grasp. Minseok lets go of Kai's hand and lunges forward, trapping Sehun's arms with his own and hauling him back to the group. Sehun may be big, but Minseok will always be stronger. But by god, Minseok just wants to let go. "I'm gonna kill you!"

Fuck, they gotta get out of here. 

Luckily Lay was thinking the exact same thing, because somehow he got one of the cars working. The roar of the engine is distracting, and Minseok couldn’t be more grateful for it. 

"Get in!" he yells. Minseok pushes Sehun in the direction of the car, desperately hoping he'll go. He does.

Chanyeol, who isn't moving at all, doesn't even seem to register it. All he does is stare at Baekhyun in shock, until Minseok and Sehun both try to grab onto him. 

"No!" he suddenly yells, lashing out in their grip. He trashes and squirms, yelling at the top of his lungs. Lay parks the car right in front of them, so that they might get on it faster. "BAEK!" Chanyeol shouts, his voice breaking. Oh, fuck it. Minseok throws out his hands, trapping Chanyeol in a thin layer of ice. It buys them just enough time to shove him into the van. The ice breaks, and Chanyeol is sent sprawling over the floor of the van. He scrambles, surging for the door, but Sehun closes it right in his face. "BAEK!"

"You can't save him, Chanyeol!" Minseok shouts as soon as they're in the van. Lay steps on the petal with full force, and Minseok, the only one not sitting, has to grab onto the bar on the ceiling to stay upright. Chanyeol claws at the door, broken sobs filling the small space they share. 

Fuck.

Fuck.

Minseok gasps, desperate to keep the tears from flowing onto his face. He manages, but barely. 

"You can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved."


	5. Chapter 5

Suho breathes easier only when Chen takes over the wheel from Lay. He’d been nodding off and had nearly driven them into a ditch, for fuck’s sake, before Suho had decided he’d really rather not die so soon after getting out of the lab. Lay didn’t even seem to register what he’d said, because he just nodded sheepishly and clambered into the passenger seat, before promptly falling asleep. 

Chen wasn’t too happy about being woken up, starting violently when Suho tapped his arm gently, his flailing limbs dangerously close to smacking right into Kai. He only grumbled for a short while though, realizing that he was the only one not close to collapsing from exhaustion like the others already had. 

Suho himself spent a  _ lot _ of energy getting all the debris off Minseok's ice, his limbs still trembling with every move and his breathing not quite the pace it should be. He’s jittery, though.

But that may just be because his mind won't stop screaming at him. 

Four. 

That's how many they lost to that godforsaken place. He can't believe himself, but he's already thinking of Baek as lost, just like the other three.  _ God _ , Suho was supposed to protect them. He’d been chosen as leader of this team for his ability to bring everyone home, but now he’d left behind a third of his team.  _ A third.  _

Not that it matters now. They're free.

But then why does it feel like breathing became so much harder? There was a brief moment of joy, the one he’d felt when he’d sucked in that first breath. It hadn’t smelled of millions of aggressive disinfectants unlike everything else in the past months. He’d  _ felt  _ free. 

And then they lost Baekhyun. 

Suho sighs. He worries. Sehun is passed out against his shoulder, breathing slow and heavy,  wet, black hair tickling against Suho's cheek. He doesn’t bother brushing it away, because it helps keep him awake. 

Kai has his arms wrapped around Kyungsoo, his eyes falling shut periodically. He's exhausted, but tries to stay awake for Kyungsoo's sake. Kyungsoo still hasn’t stirred, and he looks frailer than ever, curled up in Kai’s arms. 

Lay is in the front next to Chen, sleeping soundly, arms and legs tucked in against his chest. He whimpers softly from time to time, and Suho is certain he spotted his cheeks glistening in the fading moonlight. 

Minseok fell asleep when Chanyeol calmed down, his head lolling against the back of Chen's seat. Suho holds his hand in front of Minseok’s mouth periodically, relief washing over him every time he feels his breath getting warmer. Minseok is not a heavy sleeper, but Suho doubts anything will really stirr him now. 

Chanyeol hasn't said a word, sitting cross-legged in front of the door with his head pressed against the cool metal, body jostling loosely with the movements of the car. Suho isn't sure if he's awake, but it doesn't matter. Suho always knew that Chanyeol trusted too easily, but he’d never thought they’d be betrayed for someone in their inner circle. 

Suho always accounts for every possibility, but not even he saw this coming. To be honest, if anyone was going to betray them, he’d have betted on either Lay or Sehun, taking in their losses and all. He’d just never thought…  _ Baekhyun.  _

The two benches lining the inside of the car don't provide enough space for all of them, but Suho finds it's comforting to be this close to all of them. It’s a comfort, and the cold outside it biting, but the heat from eight bodies keeps them warm.

Well, most of them, anyway. 

He bites his lip. He's thought about it long and hard, and he still hasn't figured out why Baekhyun would do this to them. It just doesn’t make sense. 

The signs were there, sure - the marginally bigger room and significantly lower number of experiments along with a fuller face and a lack of noise that kind of confused Suho whenever Baekhyun was around - but there's no motive he can really identify. 

Sure, that woman is beautiful and everything about her, except maybe her psychotic tendencies, draws them in, but that still doesn't seem enough to betray the last of his own kind. Especially if one of those people... well, Baekhyun's infatuation with Chanyeol was never a secret, with the only who never seemed to figure it out being Chanyeol himself. Maybe that was the reason - Baekhyun had enough of chasing after someone he thought would never love him back and decided to move on. But that all seems rather unlikely. 

Suho growls softly in frustration. Out of all people, he always thought Baekhyun was the easiest to read. It fucking sucks to be wrong about someone. 

Baekhyun wouldn't have been more wrong if he thought Chanyeol didn't at least care about him. Suho suspected it a long time ago, but in these past few hours, it's become far more obvious. 

Chanyeol feels responsible for Baekhyun in some way. That's why Suho thinks Chanyeol is not only grieving over Baekhyun's betrayal, but also blaming himself to some extent. It's obviously not his fault - nobody saw this coming - but Suho worries what Chanyeol's thoughts could do to the rest of them. Still, he wouldn’t exactly pin whatever Chanyeol is feeling as love - not to the extent that Baekhyun loved Chanyeol, anyway - but more of a strong, brotherly bond. Suho just doesn’t know how to help Chanyeol through this. 

"Suho?" Suho jumps a little, but not quite enough to wake Sehun. He turns to look at Minseok, who quietly yawns and sits up, blinking the remaining sleep from his eyes. "Where are we gonna go?"

Suho sighs. That's also a problem.

Suho hasn’t really been able to look outside - the windows are blocked with metal bars he just can’t quite see through, and unless he were to lean all the way forward and risk waking up Sehun, he’s got no way of seeing where they’re going. He’s caught a few glimpses of massive walls of titian rock, freckled with caves and seemingly hewn with eons of rushing water that has dried out. It’s a labyrinth, but not nearly has trapping as the maze. 

"We keep going until we find a road. From there, we can see what comes next." 

It's not a very good plan, but it's the only one he's got. They needed to stay away from the road, but Suho decides they've gone far enough. When the sun rises, M.A.M.A. will be able to follow their trail, so it's best to be on the road by then. He just hopes there’s a quick one out of this place, because he doesn’t think any of them will be able to use their powers any time soon. 

"And what about Kyungsoo?"

Shit, he hadn't thought about that. If Chanyeol feels responsible for Baekhyun, Suho can only imagine what Kyungsoo may feel when he wakes. Kyungsoo was always the one to keep both Chanyeol and Baekhyun in check, and Suho fears his reaction when he gets the news. He may not act like it all the time, but Kyungsoo really does care for those two. He practically raised them, despite being a year younger than them. Suho’s always admired that about Kyungsoo - he made Suho’s job far easier, but he never asks any credit for it. 

"Who's going to tell him?" Minseok presses. 

"We can leave that to Kai," says Suho. He sighs. There's really no good way to do this. 

"Don't you think that's a bit cruel, though? Minseok asks carefully, glancing to where Kyungsoo and Kai lay together. Kai is definitely sleeping now, his breathing slow and steady. "I mean, Kai seems way too tired to deal with that."

"I get that, but I think he's the only who'll be able to calm Kyungsoo down a little," Suho answers, running a hand through his hair, combing out the remnants of gel left. He sighs in relief. His hair's been combed back strictly for months, but now it can finally hang free. There’s really no way to break everything to Kyungsoo properly - Suho just hopes Kai will know how to say it in the best way possible. He bites the inside of his cheek in frustration, feeling absolutely useless. "I doubt he will, but should Kyungsoo lose control, I think Kai's the most suited to deal with it." 

Suho turns to look at Minseok again, just to find a small smirk splayed on his lips. He raises an eyebrow questioningly. 

"Nothing, it's just that I'd forgotten who you were before all this happened." 

Suho laughs quietly, his left shoulder shaking awkwardly as he attempts to keep the right still. Honestly, he’d forgotten as well. He’s still not sure if he even knows it now. 

"Our strategic leader, saving our asses once again."

"And our eldest brother, making sure we don't fall apart," says Suho, attempting not to scoff at Minseok's statement. Suho hasn't saved anyone's ass. If he had, this van would be uncomfortably cramped, and perhaps he'd have to sit on someone's lap. They'd be celebrating, instead of mourning, and Suho wouldn't feel so alone. "There were two of me, and I need my other half," Suho whispers, his voice suddenly croaky. He feels miserable, and even mentioning the fact that there  _ were  _ two of him hurts. 

It hurts so damn much.  

"I know," Minseok says, casting his eyes down at his hands. He speaks quietly, tenderly. "And Sehun needs his best friend back, Lay needs his younger brother back, and Chanyeol needs someone who can match him. But we both know that isn't going to happen anymore, so we keep looking forward. We get out of here and we find somewhere safe where we can stay. Then we find a way to get of this shitty planet."

Minseok has never been one for holding back the truth. Though guilt and shame wash over Suho like a tidal wave, nearly breaking apart the carefully crafted mask over his face, he knows Minseok is right. 

"Agreed," says Suho, though his voice is raspy and broken. He only really lets Minseok see this side of him, especially when they're in situations where he has to be strong. He may be the leader, but it's nice to be able to rely on someone like Minseok. Minseok knows when to question him, and when he shouldn’t. His experience has saved Suho’s ass more than once, and Suho couldn’t be more grateful to have a friend like him by his side. He's forgotten Chen is awake, too, but he doesn't mind. Besides, Suho doubts he’s listening. 

"Uhhh, guys?" Chen asks suddenly from up front, sounding panicked, his breath quick and frantic. Suho jumps up, nearly knocking his head against the roof. Sehun wakes with a startled yelp, his eyes blowing wide open immediately. Suho pays him no mind and leans over Chen’s seat, an uneasy feeling already settling in his stomach. He peers through the front window at whatever freaked Chen out and quietly curses. This isn’t good. 

Standing in the van's light are two men, rough-looking with their dark, torn clothes and the rifles held against their shoulders. One of them, a stocky man with a full, brown beard and heavy eyebrows, has his gun trained on the van, directly at Chen. Chen shifts nervously, reaching down beside his thigh. 

"No," says Suho when Chen unbuckles his seatbelt, pausing Chen with a palm against his shoulder. "I'll go." He reaches over Chen and opens the door, before clambering over him awkwardly and stumbling out of the car, his legs supporting him less than he’d liked. He probably looks ridiculous, wet, messy hair and a face that hasn’t held fat in months. Whatever he’s going to have to convince these men of, he’ll have to work hard for it, Suho estimates. 

He doesn't want to admit it, but sending out Chen of all people makes him nervous. He might panic and lose control. Chen is actually  _ very _ good at controlling his affinities - he might even rival Kyungsoo and Suho - but his lightning is hard to subdue, to put it lightly. Chanyeol's flames can be fought by nearly everyone - with combines forces and then still a considerable amount of difficulty - while the only one who can stop Chen's lightning is Kyungsoo - and he's still passed out in the back of the van. 

"Who are you?" the tall man pointing his rifle at Suho's feet demands in a low, rough voice, his eyes hard and sharp. "How many of you are there?" 

Suho doesn’t pay attention to him, his gaze drawn to the shorter man. He has his rifle still pointed exactly at Chen, but Suho doesn’t like the threat in his eyes. He shifts, shuffling his feet in the rough sand in an attempt to keep all attention on himself. 

The tall man grunts, obviously not pleased with being ignored. Suho just barely manages not to flinch, his self-control not what it used to be. He feels as if he’s going to break down crying any second, and he fights to keep his face impassive. It’s a lot harder than it used to be. 

Suho holds up his hands. "My name is Suho." He knows lying too much is just going to get him in trouble, and with half his members passed out, he can’t coordinate with them. He takes on a fake name now, the members might just slip up later in a hypothetical situation in which they’re kidnapped again. No, his own name is the best option now. "We're just passing through."

"Like hell you are," the tall man says, his ugly eyes knitted together in a weird sort of frown. He honestly doesn’t seem too smart, to Suho. "That's a M.A.M.A. car you've got. You're working for them, aren't you?" The man raises his gun threateningly, pointing it right at Suhos chest and his thumb flicking over the safety click. 

"No!" Suho exclaims quickly, waving his hands out in front of him in a bit of a panic. This is going all wrong and not at all how Suho planned it to. He’s way too tired to be negotiating anything right now, much less hold an intelligent conversation which he can manipulate entirely to his will. 

"We have the van because we're trying to escape!" 

Oh, fuck. 

He messed up. Suho screws his eyes shut for a second, saying a silent apology to his members in the van. When he opens his eyes again, however, he sees the man has slung his rifle over his shoulder by the strap. He’s reaching forward, hand flying to Suho’s collar. He can’t help it - Suho flinches. 

"C'mere," the man says when Suho hesitates. His voice is far gentler than it was before, but it still sounds like he’s been standing near an ancient exhaust pipe for the better part of his life.

Suho reminds himself that with Minseok and Chen watching carefully, a bullet can do nothing against him. His heart races all the same, though. He can’t help it - he’s just so  _ scared  _ all the time now. He used to be fearless…

"One, huh?" the man says, reading the number on Suho's throat, his finger brushing over the cold, exposed skin between his jaw and the top of the collar. 

"Yes, sir," Suho says. 

He mentally slaps himself. “Sir” is used for someone who is in control - someone who needs to be obeyed. This guy is definitely no “sir”, even if he has a gun trained on Suho’s head, which he doesn’t. 

The man chuckles darkly. 

"Very well. How many of you are there?" 

"Nin-" Suho stops himself, cringing internally. "Eight, sir."

"Lost someone, eh?" Suho blinks. This guy is smarter than Suho thought he was.  "Get back in your car and follow us. Don't even think about driving off. We will shoot." 

The man bares his teeth, revealing the rot and blasting foul breath in Suho's face. Suho keeps himself from flinching again, the embarrassment from last time likely still evident on his ears. 

Suho swallows thickly and nods, his eyes blown wide. He slowly backs away, keeping his gaze fixed on the barrel still pointed at him. It’s something he wouldn’t even blink to in the past, but is daunting as hell now. He stumbles a little, but regains his footing. 

He walks back towards the door on Chen's side, only breathing when he opens it to reveal Chen and Minseok anxiously watching him. Suho doesn’t look at them, keeping his gaze fixed on the two men still waving those guns at them.

Only when he’s certain the men won’t do anything else, does Suho look into the van. There’s sweat beaded on both Chen and Minseok’s foreheads, and their skin is pale in the waning moonlight. Next to them is Lay, eyes wide and blinking rapidly, but never leaving the men in front of them. 

Suho clambers into the car hurriedly, his movements frantic and panicked, but  _ fuck,  _ he doesn’t give a damn right now. He sees the fearful faces of his members, and he holds up his fist to still the incoming wave of questions he can already feel coming. 

"Follow them," he says to Chen, his voice too deep and raspy for his liking. Only Minseok really notices, though, seeing as he slowly blinks. Chen just nods and the others sit in silence. 

The other van they're supposed to follow isn't as rough looking as their own - Suho supposes it isn't built to hold soldiers like this one probably is. It doesn't have the extra protection on its sides or the headlights on the roof. Its edges are softer, if that’s even possible. 

Chen nods and steps on it, making Suho lurch back. He falls, but a large hand is at the small of his back, steadying him. Sehun. Suho lowers his fist and sighs deeply, closing his eyes just for a second. 

"Suho, are you alright?" Sehun asks as soon as Suho lowers his hand. Suho nods, though he feels like he's going to throw up. They've barely been outside the ugly, square building that is the laboratory and they're already involved with other humans who don't seem too friendly. Just their fucking luck, right? "What do they want?"

Suho looks around. Everyone except Kyungsoo and Chanyeol seems to be listening intently, so he sighs again and runs another tense hand through his hair. 

"I don't know. They seemed to think we were part of M.A.M.A. until I explained otherwise, but now I'm not sure what they want with us," he says. Out of the corner of his eye he sees Lay cast a nervous glance at Kyungsoo. "I want you all to be on your guard. Kai, you look after Kyungsoo until Lay is able to heal him." 

Suho casts a quick glance at Sehun and Minseok, sending a silent plea their way. It’s imperative that they understand him now. They nod, shifting their strong bodies restlessly, telling Suho they understood.

_ Keep an eye on Chanyeol.   _

Chanyeol is definitely awake, but nothing seems to interest him. He just stares blankly out the window, his eyes glazed over with tears that won't seem to fall. Suho bites his lip, not really wanting to mention anything. It’s probably best to leave him be for now. He’s not predictable when he’s somewhat down, but this… this is something Suho has never seen before. To be honest, he’d rather have Chanyeol in this sedated state than have him angry. An angered Chanyeol is something he’d rather never experience again. 

* * *

 

"Hey, Suho?" Chen says, breaking the silence that’s been looming over them for about an hour now. The entire van has been filled with nearly tangible tension, making the hairs on the back on Suho’s hand stand on ends. Nobody has dared to speak a word, but enough things are understood. "They're leading us to an underground base, I think." 

Suho stands to peer out of the front window, keeping himself steady on the front seats. Chen's right. Tucking away in dry bushes and two yellow walls made of roughly hewn rock is a gate, behind which is a long, neatly paved tunnel. Standing by the gate made of mere wires woven together are two mean-looking guards, both with dark uniforms and guns held against shoulders, pointing to the ground. 

The van in front of them still only for a moment, one of the guards outside peeking through the window by the driver’s seat and then nodding. The gate slings open with a squeak, and the van passes through, driving into the tunnel. 

"Just go after the van," Suho says when Chen hesitates at the gate. They pass through without being questioned, so Suho assumes the leading car already informed them. The guards barely narrow their eyes at the sight of the white uniforms and the military truck. Suho closes his eyes and sighs, before the gates slam shut behind him and they plunge into a prison again. 

The tunnel is dark, and even with the light of the car they can't see much except the car in front of them and the concrete walls that seem to suffocate them from every side. 

Baek could light the way. 

Suho scolds himself. There's no time to think like that. Baek’s gone. He might as well be dead. In fact, it would be better to start thinking of him as dead, because he’s sure as hell not going to survive an encounter with any remaining members again. He… fuck, he’s going to be so hated for this, but it has to be done - he’ll give the order to kill Baekhyun on sight once they’ve settled in somewhere. 

All of a suddenly the van in front of them stops, and the car shuts off. Chen stops the truck as well and cuts off the power as well, and Suho rubs his thumb over the palm of his hand nervously. The two men jumps out of the car and beckon for Suho to follow. 

Suho sighs and claps Chen on the shoulder. 

"I think it's best if we all go," says Suho. He reaches over and shakes Chanyeol's shoulder, silently asking him to open the door. Chanyeol, though looking dazed and confused like he just woke up from a surreal dream, complies and swiftly jumps out of the van, keeping his gaze fixed on the tips of his shoes. Suho lets the others go first, and then he reaches under Kyungsoo’s shoulders. He hauls him forward, letting Kyungsoo’s feet drag unceremoniously over the metal floor. Kai stands with his back facing the door, and somehow Suho manages to lift Kyungsoo onto his back. 

Suho gently pushes past the small crowd of his confused and lost-looking friends, and walks towards them. 

"Come on," says the tall man after Suho and the others approach them, holding open the door to let them in. Great. Suho hesitates, not ready to be locked back into some facility after he's gotten fresh air. He doesn't want to go inside, but Sehun gently pushes him, prompting him to take the lead. 

Suho steps inside, and is immediately blinded by ugly, white light. He blinks and then gasps. 

Inside this building, it's completely different from their nightmare. The walls are dirty, bustling with equipment and windows, grey and not white. Many people walk back and forth, chattering happily even at this late - or rather, early - hour, many clutching steaming cups of strange, black substance Suho is not familiar with. Many throw curious glances at the eight strangers in white uniform, but that's all the attention they're given. The air is warm here, and not cold. Maybe even a little stuffy. 

People have their arms slung over friends, and there are faint trails of laughter here and there. There’s a little boy who walks hand-in-hand with a blue-eyed woman, squealing happily when a short man reaches behind him and tickles his pudgy sides. Instead of chlorine, Suho smells some other bitter scent and sweat and detergent. 

Though the air here is lighter than in the lab, Suho doesn't miss the scars littering the bodies of people passing by, or the worried glances at the numbers at their throats. Everyone - even the few children he sees - carries a weapon, most keeping their hand near casually. They've seen war, Suho concludes. He can see it in their eyes. As someone who’s seen countless deaths and even more battles, Suho can see it. He recognizes it. 

It the look he saw every day in the mirror. 

The tall man - Suho guesses he's only a little shorter than Chanyeol - leads them deep into a maze of rooms. This place is so similar to the lab but so different at the same time. It's uncomfortable and Suho feels his chest tighten at the sight of all the happiness in this place. It feels wrong. 

"I'm sure you're all exhausted. You can rest here for now," the man says not unkindly, opening a door labeled "4". Crap. 

Suho thanks him and walks inside, taking in the two rooms adjourned by a narrow path in the middle. There's two large beds in every room, and a bathroom with shower. It's nothing fancy - the beds are creaky and old, there's rusty equipment pushed against the walls and everything's the same ugly grey, but Suho is even thankful for the warm, yellow light the light bulbs provide. 

Once everyone is inside, the door is shut.

Kai, with Kyungsoo still on his back, collapses on one of the beds, groaning softly and rubbing his back. He sighs and motions for Lay to help him. Suho watches as they strip Kyungsoo of his clothes and tuck him into the bed. Once they’re done they sit on the edge of the bed in silence, neither of them moving a muscle. 

Chen takes the other bed, immediately curling into a ball and not bothering with any covers. Minseok sits next to him and rubs his back, his eyes lines with red. It’s like a shaky sigh passes through the both of them. Their eyes are dull and almost dull, and it hurts Suho to look at them, so he averts his gaze. 

Sehun takes Chanyeol by the elbow and makes him sit next to Kyungsoo. Chanyeol lets him do whatever, his body like a stiff doll. He just stares ahead blankly and complies with whatever Sehun tells him to do. Sehun turns around and looks at Suho with big, pleading eyes brimming with tears. 

Fuck. 

Suho understands. He fucking understands. 

They're alive. 

They haven't had time to feel anything, but now that they do, it all comes rushing to them like a tidal wave. Hollow chests that hurt and stiffened shoulders that want nothing more than to relax. Tightness in their throats that seems to constrict all air and cut off their ability to breathe, even now that they're gone from that place. This isn't about being away from all the pain and and the fact that they're all together for the first time in months, but about the fact that they're not even sure they're safe and that they're not all here. There's four empty spaces where they should be, but will never be again, for better or worse.

Sehun let out one wet sob, his face contorting in pain, and steps forward, closing the distance between him and Suho in two long strides. Suho wraps his arms around Sehun's neck, though it's a bit of a reach and Sehun has to bend down awkwardly. Sehun sighs into Suho's neck, his shoulders shaking as he cries. After a minute or so Suho realizes with a shock that his own cheeks are wet and that there's sniffling all over the room. 

He gently pulls away from Sehun and looks at his face. He smiles, though it feels fake even to himself, and uses his sleeve to wipe the wetness from Sehun’s face. 

Then he turns to the rest of the room. 

Chen is curled around Minseok's middle somehow, while silent tears stream down Minseok's face. Minseok strokes Chen’s hair with shaky hands, but he doesn’t look down at him. Suho can’t see if Chen is already asleep or not, but he knows Minseok won’t anytime soon. There’s that pinch in his brow, and Suho knows his mind won’t let him rest for a while. 

Kai sobs quietly, face hidden in his hands and back hunches as he leans his elbows on his knees. His shoulders shake with every shock his sobs pulse through his body, but he makes no sound. Lay has scooted closer, his ever-steady hands stroking comforting circles on Kai’s back. Lay may seem steady, Suho thinks, but the pain in his face - the way he looks as if he sees his dying friends and not the old, rusty equipment - is enough to tell differently. 

Chanyeol just stares at his friends, tears never leaving his eyes but brow furrowed in a strange kind of horror. Suho knows that behind all of that shock that's layered on Chanyeol, he very much mourns for everyone's pain. That's just who Chanyeol is - he never could stand it when someone cried. 

"Suho," Sehun whispers brokenly behind him, his voice hoarse and croaky. "I can't do this without him." 

Suho bites his lip. He knew this was going to come one day, and he really did try to prepare himself. But now Sehun, someone who is strong and rarely breaks, is broken and looking at Suho with those swollen, red-rimmed eyes still glistening with tears, his cheeks still wet and his wide, sturdy shoulders slumped, making him look more like a child than ever. Sehun is strong, not just physically but mentally, and in many ways he's more mature than most of them, so to be reminded that their youngest is still inexperienced, and hasn't seen a single war in this way, with Sehun shoving it into his face and crying out like a wounded animal takes Suho's breath away. 

"I don't want to."

"I know," Suho says, and he can't keep his voice from trembling. 

Keeping himself together is crucial, especially in situations like this. That was the first thing they taught him at the academy back home. To be a good leader, you mustn't let your team suffer because of your personal emotions or vendettas. If you are emotionally compromised, take the time to distance yourself from your team, so that they do not see your pain. The team depends on you for support, and they can't do that if you can't even keep yourself together. That's what they always said. But Suho can't do that anymore. He's lost a third of his team, all of which held crucial pieces of the Tree of Life locked inside them. His partner, the person he could truly rely on, the one he loved more than anyone, one of those he's had to leave behind. Suho can't stay calm anymore. It's not fair. 

He hasn't noticed the entire room's fallen silent until his own broken cries break through, his voice breaking and throat raspy as he lets it all out. He holds nothing back, turning his face to the ceiling and letting the sobs be as loud as they want to be. They're deafening, shocking his team into further silence. 

"I know!" he manages to shout out, before falling to his knees and burying his face in his hands. It's all too much. Even if they've won, they lost. They lost too much. There's no point anymore. "I kno-AHH!" 

Suho screams out when he feels Sehun's arms wrap around him, his cheek rubbing between his shoulder blades. New waves of despair, anguish, guilt and everything else comes washing over him and Suho truly breaks, crying out incoherent words and gripping into Sehun's arms. He lets his subordinate pull him close, lets himself fall into a pit he won't be able to come out of. He's sunk so low, but it truly doesn't matter. 

It doesn't matter because of Baekhyun, Luhan, Tao and Kris.

Baekhyun. 

Luhan.

Tao.

_ Kris _ .

 


	6. Chapter 6

Kyungsoo barely remembers anything. He was depending on Suho and Xiumin for support after bringing the wall down, when he got pushed into one of the smaller rooms adjourning the flickering hallway. He knows it was to protect him, but he got separated from the others and he was at the end of his line. He was terrified.  

He remembers a wall of fire and a dome of ice. A mouth dripping with blood and hair whiter than snow. He remembers screams of anguish and grief, but maddeningly he doesn’t know who or what caused those ripples in his memory. There’s too many blanks, and he hates it. 

When he wakes, he blinks away the light. He’s on his back, submerged in rough cloth that envelopes him entirely. There’s grey everywhere. He turns his head and spots a hollow, tear-stained face. He recognizes it, but he also doesn’t. The face he used to remember was far fuller and shone even in the darkest rooms. 

Then he remembers the past few months, and it makes sense. 

Kai smiles sadly when he sees Kyungsoo’s open eyes, the corners of his mouth hanging down while his lips desperately tug up, his face making a futile attempts to stay bright. It’s not working, but Kyungsoo feels warm anyway. He desperately wants to reach up and touch Kai’s face, but his arms struggle with even a small task such as this, so he lets it stay by his side. 

Kyungsoo, with the silent help of Kai, sits up, his back resting against a soft, white pillow and his legs hidden by a thick, grey blanket that slightly scratches at his exposed legs. 

They escaped. Relief courses through Kyungsoo’s veins, but it’s drowned out by the overwhelming lack of sound that fills the room. 

He never expected the room to be this quiet. He expected to be somewhat excited chatter or crying over the three comrades they lost, but there's only silence. It’s settled over them like a heavy blanket, slowly suffocating them, but they don’t put up a fight. 

Kyungsoo shivers, suspicion creeping over his neck. 

Kyungsoo looks around. Lying next to him is Suho, the upper half of his head the only thing visible. The rest of him is safely hidden away in the blanket, but Kyungsoo doesn't miss the redness that remain on his eyes. He's been crying, and judging from Kai's little nod when Kyungsoo looks at him for answers, it wasn't pretty. He suspects the main reason for the quietness in the room may have been because of Suho's outburst. He knows what kind of training leaders go through, as does everyone else. For Suho to show his emotions openly to them is rare, but when he does, it has devastating consequences. They may all not act like it’s true - Suho himself included - but Suho is definitely a pillar for all of them. When he crumbles, everyone else does, too. 

Lay is on the other bed, lying curled into the blanket, but his eyes are open. He stares at the ceiling, chest rising and falling steadily, only stuttering when he sighs deeply, and brow pinched together in this oddly blank way. There’s dark circles under his eyes and a clammy way he holds his blanket - he hasn’t slept much. Kyungsoo averts his eyes quickly, not willing to look at his broken friend any longer. 

Next to Lay is Chen, sound asleep with his face bruised in a million different ways. His cheek is painted with colorful shades of red, blue and green, the flesh puffed up and ugly. Dark circles stain under his eyes, making him look sickly and frail, while Kyungsoo knows Chen is nothing of the sort. Still, the bruises are difficult to look at. 

Sehun appears in the doorway that probably links to the other bedroom, his skin pale and sweat beaded on his brow. Kyungsoo feels a sudden surge of pity towards his youngest friend, and he resists the urge to call out to him. Sehun's forearms have ugly, red claw marks on them, and on his neck is a stream of dried blood. His eyes are sullen, like he already grieved so much he has nothing left to give. Kyungsoo wonders if it's true - that Sehun has felt so much misery that he no longer can feel it. The slump in his broad shoulders is unmistakable, and the fleeting glance at Suho tells Kyungsoo he’s so, so scared. 

Xiumin sits in the corner with a blanket wrapped tightly around his strong body - Kyungsoo supposes he got the blanket from the other room. Xiumin’s eyes travel over the room, scanning for any dangers continuously like a warrior does, and flinching at every sound like a skittish animal. He's shivering and Kyungsoo knows he didn't dream the dome of ice. He looks exhausted, but Kyungsoo also knows that Xiumin won't really rest until he knows everyone is safe.

Kyungsoo turns away.

Chanyeol... Kyungsoo nearly gasps when he sees him. He realizes why the room is so silent, and it presses on his chest, suffocating him. Chanyeol is by the door, curled into a ball and knees tightly hugged to his chest. His eyes, wide and staring, flicker to Kyungsoo for just a second, and Kyungsoo lets loose a shaky breath. There's so much fear behind those eyes. His lower lip quivers and Kyungsoo looks around for Baekhyun, wondering why the two of them aren't together. Baekhyun would never let Chanyeol be like this - Kyungsoo, probably like everyone else, is aware of how much Baekhyun cares for Chanyeol. 

"-and so without Baek, Chanyeol's been like this the whole time." Kyungsoo starts, his hands instinctively flying to his chest. Kai looks at him oddly, like he’s expecting a response, and it takes Kyungsoo a moment to realize that Kai was explaining the situation to him. 

"What?"

Kai sighs and runs a hand through his hair. He looks so damn tired, so Kyungsoo grabs onto his free hand. He doesn't understand what's going on, but the odd feeling in his stomach just grows and grows. 

"Baekhyun betrayed us, Kyungsoo," says Kai angrily. Kyungsoo stills, confusion springing through his head. "He betrayed us for the woman who tortured us for months. And now Chanyeol won't even respond to us, Sehun and Suho somehow blame themselves for Kris, Tao and Luhan, and nobody actually trusts whoever these guys who have us locked in this room are." 

Kai seems angry, but Kyungsoo can hear the thickness in his voice and the way his pitch shoots up at the end of his sentence. It's so subtle Kyungsoo barely notices, but he's become so attuned to Kai's voice that he can pick up on just about anything strange. He closes his eyes, not willing to look Kai in the eyes for just a few moments.

Baekhyun. 

The one who keeps them all happy. Sure, they all say that's Chanyeol's job, but it's generally Baekhyun who prompts Chanyeol to make jokes and be happy, so in a way, it's been Baekhyun who keeps them happy. 

The guy falls in love easily. That was evident even when they were training back home. Almost every month he would come to the barracks with a new crush, proclaiming his love for them in nearly poetic ways. That was until their unit met Chanyeol's unit - the intelligence unit joined with the foot soldiers - and Baekhyun no longer gushed over pretty boys and beautiful girls but only about the strong, tall stranger on their unit who seemed too kind to be true. 

Kyungsoo finds himself scoffing just to think of it. Something in him is angrier than he's ever been, but he isn't sure at whom he's angry. 

Chanyeol. The one who's kept them all together all this time. Kyungsoo remembers their trainee days, a bitter taste in his mouth now.

* * *

 

_ "Hello," a kid that seemed to be around Kyungsoo's age said, grinning toothily and thrusting forward his hand for Kyungsoo to take. Kyungsoo took it hesitantly, narrowing his eyes to fix the haze in his vision. The boy became clearer, and Kyungsoo could see the messy black hair and the round cheeks over twinkling eyes clearly now. "Jeez, do you always glare at people when you meet them?" _

_ "Oh sorry," Kyungsoo said nervously, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt and dropping his gaze to his feet. "I don't see very well." _

_ The boy laughed, throwing his head back and opening his mouth in a smile that was nothing short of dazzling. "It's alright," he said, his grin never leaving his face. Kyungsoo shuffled his feet together, his body jittery with nerves still. "I'm Baekhyun," the boy said. "What's your name?" _

_ "Kyungsoo," Kyungsoo said, again squinting hard to see Baekhyun's face. Baekhyun seemed to find it enjoyable - he laughed again, the clear sound ringing through the otherwise empty dorm. "You're in squad I-eighty-four?"  _

_ "I don't think I would be here if I weren't," said Baekhyun, throwing his bag onto the bunk above Kyungsoo's.  _

_ Kyungsoo bit his lip. There were six beds in the dorm, yet Baekhyun chose the one nearest Kyungsoo. It made him a little uncomfortable, though he wasn’t sure why. _

_ He looked around, gaze travelling over the neat, metal bunks lined with soft, blue lights and orange paint. The walls were lined with built-in closets, the closet doors a lighter metal than the rest of the room and monitors lit up with random announcements and data streaming in every minute or so.  _

_ Suddenly the door slid open with a hiss, revealing two boys carrying heavy duffel bags.  _

_ "Hello!" the short boy with dark grey hair that somehow fell into a perfect wave to the side said, striding forward with big, confident steps. Like Baekhyun, he thrust his hand forward in a nearly urgent way, like it was crucial he got to know everyone as fast as possible. Behind him trailed a slightly taller boy with an oddly innocent face and light hair that stuck up in a way that made him seem impossibly young. "My name is Suho," the shorter boy said. "I'll be your squad leader when we graduate." _

_ Well, that guy was certainly to the point. Kyungsoo supposed that came with the job. Suho must've been training for a few years already, like most squad-leaders do. He certainly seemed older than Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, anyway.  _

_ "My name is Luhan," the child-like boy said. "I'm the second-in-command." _

_ Baekhyun whistled, surprised, perfectly reflecting what Kyungsoo felt. If the leader wasn't the eldest in a squad, then the eldest would be automatically elected as first officer. It wouldn't have come as a surprise if Luhan didn't look like he was at least five years younger than all of them.  _

_ "You don't look like you're the oldest," said Baekhyun. Kyungsoo flinched at the boy's rudeness, fearing Luhan's reaction. Kyungsoo kind of expected Luhan to turn all dark and dangerous all of a sudden, or to scold Baekhyun for being so mannerless. Instead Luhan just laughed and conjured his data tablet from his pocket, tapping on the screen and showing it to Baekhyun. _

_ "He is a year older than myself and two years older than Baekhyun. He's got three on Kyungsoo," said Suho, an amused eyebrow raised. Kyungsoo nodded in acknowledgement. "Now we just need Chen and this unit'll be complete." _

_ "Only five members?" Luhan questioned, carefully stowing his bag under the bed opposite of Kyungsoo's before climbing on and sitting there cross-legged. He looked so much like a child, Kyungsoo mused. His face was so bright and lively - there was just no way he was three years older than Kyungsoo.  _

_ "Well, intelligence units don't usually have large numbers in the first place," said Suho, frowning and swiping across his own data tablet with his fingertip. He sighed and clicked it back into his belt before picking up his bag and looking around. "But enlistment rates have been going down a lot lately, so that's why there's only five of us. I heard this year's ground unit is only seven." _

_ "That's crazy," said Kyungsoo a little breathlessly. His father enlisted thirty years ago, so he'd heard stories about the mighty ground unit. Hundreds of soldiers willing to throw themselves into battle, willing to die for a cause they believe in. Fighting wars right over the planet's atmosphere, keeping their home safe. Intelligence was more elite than the ground unit, but now he supposed that the ground unit must've been training much more too, if there were so few of them.   _

_ "Yeah. But our corps is a lot bigger than the last, so they're optimistic about future generations," said Suho, claiming the last empty bunk for himself.  _

_ "It's because there's no more wars to wage."  _

_ Kyungsoo whipped around to face the entrance, his neck popping uncomfortably and his heart suddenly racing. In the doorway stood a kind-faced boy that, again, didn't look much older than Kyungsoo himself, with straight eyebrows and high cheekbones. He ran a hand through his black hair, smiling in a way that was probably not meant to be mischievous.   _

_ "You must be Chen," said Baekhyun, stepping forward with his hand extended, leaving Suho looking somewhat disgruntled. Kyungsoo held back a snicker. "I'm Baekhyun." _

_ Chen nodded and took the hands of everyone else present, including Kyungsoo. Kyungsoo shivered a little, because Chen's hands were so warm and it reminded him that it was cold as hell in the room. Chen grinned as if he knew exactly what Kyungsoo was feeling. He threw a rather heavy-looking bag onto the bed above Luhan's, seeming to recognize that Suho claimed an entire bunk for his own.  _

_ "Now that we have everyone, I want to tell you all something," said Suho, motioning for the squad to gather around his bunk. Kyungsoo threw his legs over his own bed, swinging forward easily and leaning forward to look at Suho's data tablet. On it were the pictures of everyone present - his own with that horrible blank look that always made him look like he was absolutely dead inside. "Our supervisors told me that we'll be joining another squad in roughly three years for a special mission. They needed the fittest squad for this, so we'll be trained more thoroughly than anyone before us." _

_ Kyungsoo fidgeted nervously. Special mission? What did that mean? Not that he particularly minded - this was what he signed up for after all - but three years seemed quite soon. Wouldn’t that be right after graduation? And joining another squad seemed quite unlikely. Kyungsoo had certainly never heard of it before.  _

_ "So we'll be elites right when we graduate?" Baekhyun asked, leaning on Kyungsoo's back with his hand and unable to hide his excitement. Kyungsoo scoffed, not wanting to spend three years with a guy who did everything for glory. His father always complained about those sort of people - the ones who only wanted to be revered by the masses - and it just sort of stuck with Kyungsoo. "Do you think we'll be granted, y'know, important missions?" _

_ "That doesn't matter," said Suho, looking somewhat annoyed. Kyungsoo flexed into Baekhyun's hand a little, his back growing tired quickly. "What does matter is that they're bringing us into some odd political matter, because they're sacrificing our entire corps for this mission." Suho paused, looking at every member meaningfully. Kyungsoo didn't grasp it. "What I'm saying is that whatever they're planning, it's so important they have to bring in the top elites that are so inexperienced they won't be able to make decisions for themselves." _

_ "Do you think they want to manipulate us for something?" Luhan asked, worry evident in his voice. He sat on the bed next to Suho, brow furrowed on his pretty face. _

_ "This is the cosmic military," said Kyungsoo bitterly. He bit his lip, unsure if he should say this. "They do little else." _

_ He fidgeted nervously with his fingers, twisting them together and waiting for the scolding Suho was sure to give to him. But none came. Instead, Luhan, Chen and Baekhyun burst out laughing, with even Suho - who was supposed to be the most loyal to the command center out of everyone - cracking a smile.  _

_ "Alright boys," said Suho, tapping the button on the side of the data tablet, turning it off and sitting back. He looked everyone in the eye again, with the same kind of meaningfulness as before and sighed. "We're gonna have to work our asses off, probably for something that will come back to bite us in our asses, but that's okay." _

_ "You really need to work on your pep-talks," Chen grumbled. _

* * *

 

_ Three years later the promise of a special squad was all but forgotten. It lay in the back of their minds, dormant amongst all the theory and techniques memorized through hours upon hours stuck in a giant room meant for numbers much greater than their own, waiting to be awakened. There was always this feeling they weren't really working towards anything, especially in the beginning - but as their training progressed, that feeling dwindled like snow before the sun.  _

_ Kyungsoo became closer to the other members, given time. At first, he felt distant because everyone was always so much more eccentric than he, with their endless pranks and teasing. But he found himself laughing along more and more, finding it endearing when the two pranksters - Baekhyun and Chen - fell over laughing at one of their successful experiments. Suho was far more understanding and strong than Kyungsoo had initially made him out to be. There was very little that could break him, yet he was not without conscious. Kyungsoo understood fully why he was chosen to be a leader. Luhan was the most caring person Kyungsoo had ever met. He understood Kyungsoo better than anyone, always providing solace when a member felt weary after a long day of training - all regardless of his own exhaustion. _

_ "I think she's the one," sighed Baekhyun one day, collapsing right onto Kyungsoo's stomach. Kyungsoo groaned and pulled up his knees, pushing Baekhyun onto the withering grass. It was a lazy afternoon in which no training was scheduled, so Kyungsoo and Luhan had decided to go out into the fields to relax. Chen had joined them soon after.  _

_ "You say that every time you see someone pretty," said Chen, lazily pulling the yellowing grass and throwing it at Luhan's hair, where it stuck unnoticed. Luhan huffed. Kyungsoo grinned silently, because it was definitely true.  _

_ "No, I don't," said Baekhyun, rolling onto his stomach and lifting his nose indignantly. "I didn't say that with you." _

_ "That's because you knew him before he was a pretty boy," Suho, approaching the four of them from the path, said. Chen sat up, feigning offense with a hand on his chest. Kyungsoo and Luhan laughed openly this time, because the running joke between them was a comparison of who grew up the most. Usually it was Luhan who lost, but sometimes that wasn't a bad thing.  _

_ Luhan reached up and pulled Suho down by the hand, laughing at a high pitch when Suho clumsily tried to steady himself on Luhan’s shoulder. He ended up with his head in Luhan’s lap, sighing contently.  _

_ Luhan stroked his hand through Suho’s hair, smiling softly. “You should really sleep more, Suho,” he said, slapping Suho’s shoulder playfully. Suho just scoffed and shook his head.  _

_ “It’s not my fault they’ve been keeping me behind longer than you guys,” Suho complained, reaching up to brush a stray hair of light hair from Luhan’s face. “Besides, it’s not like you don’t get enough sleep for the both of us.” _

_ “Hey!” yelled Baekhyun, feigning anger, head snapping up and glaring at Suho. “Don’t talk to our mother like that!” _

_ “I thought Kyungsoo was the mother,” said Chen, frowning at Baekhyun. Kyungsoo laughed.  _

_ “No way,” he said, plucking a piece of grass and chucking it at Chen without bothering to sit up. “Suho’s definitely the mom.” _

_ Suho stuck out his tongue, chuckling at Luhan’s offended expression. Then he sighed and stood, brushing the stray grass off his blue trousers.  _

_ "Anyways, they're calling us back to the dorm. We're meeting the other squad today." _

_ Kyungsoo sat up so quickly his head swam. He'd nearly forgotten about the other squad. Suho wasn't told who they were in the beginning, but they all suspected it was an older intelligence unit. That would only be logical. Chen, someone with a real talent for combat within the intelligence corps, wished it was a ground unit, Kyungsoo knew. But letting a ground unit deal with a mission this important wouldn't be possible. Kyungsoo hated to say it, but the ground unit could sometimes be... irresponsible.  _

_ Even with twenty-one missions in their records, Suho's squad was inexperienced when it comes to dealing with situations on their own. Ground units always got a continuous stream of orders from their superiors, while intelligence have to make decisions by themselves. Kyungsoo had to work with a ground unit once, and it was difficult - so to say. Sure, there are areas in which intelligence lacks - brute force being one of them - but the ground unit is reckless at best. There's just no way they'd leave a special mission to the ground.  _

_ At least that's what Kyungsoo thought.  _

_ The way to their dorms wasn't far, but Kyungsoo felt it took ages. He was practically shaking with anticipation, and Chen and Baekhyun's excitement didn't help much either. They were jumping around, running ahead and then launching themselves at Luhan and Kyungsoo. Luhan was rubbing his hands together nervously, occasionally nudging against Kyungsoo for reassurance. The only one who seemed calm was Suho, but Kyungsoo knew that was all an act, too.  _

_ Suho swept the pad of his thumb across the access pad and the doors slid open with a hiss, revealing their people-packed dorm.  _

_ "What is this?" Suho asked immediately, stepping into the room with that familiar, cold demeanor that still gave Kyungsoo chills. Suho used it whenever he felt the need to be more authoritative, and it was hella effective.  _

_ Kyungsoo looked at the... seven men in the room, gulping nervously. All save one were massive, standing well above the bunk beds that Kyungsoo barely reached. Still, at the sight of Suho's glowering, five of the men seemed to shrink a foot. The other - and tallest - man stood unfazed, a cocky eyebrow raised. Suho didn't falter, of course, but Luhan seemed surprised, probably because not many could resist Suho when he was like this.  _

_ "Suho?" the third tallest boy - one with a face that made Kyungsoo feel like he could kill anyone with just a look - said. He looked older than most people in the room, but living with Luhan for three years taught Kyungsoo that faces can be deceiving.  _

_ Suho ignored the boy, keeping his gaze fixed on the tallest boy with the silver hair.  _

_ "My name is Kris," the boy said, not offering his hand. Kyungsoo felt Baekhyun fumble for his hand, and when he found it, Kyungsoo squeezed lightly. Baekhyun was more nervous than usual, it seemed. "And this is my unit." _

_ "You're this corps' ground unit," said Suho with a little huff. "You've been assigned to this mission as well, then." _

_ Kyungsoo gaped a little at Suho, his mouth falling open slightly. It always amazed him how confidently Suho could make these sort of conclusions. He didn't question his own deductions for even a second, it seemed. Even the other squad leader - Kris - seemed a little taken aback.  _

_ "Yes. And you are Suho of the intelligence unit." Kris spoke in a cool manner, and Kyungsoo felt strangely drawn to him and his laid-back drawl. He spoke calmly and nearly friendly, but Kyungsoo couldn't help but feel threatened. It could’ve been the fact that he was absolutely massive, or maybe because his striking face. "You're already familiar with Sehun?"  _

_ Kyungsoo looked at the boy with the sharp face again, and, subsequently, the slightly shorter boy behind him. He drew in a sharp breath, nearly losing himself in the mesmerizing features of the boy's ethereal face. His blond hair was swept back gracefully, and Kyungsoo felt his mouth go dry just by looking at the boy. He quickly averted his gaze.  _

_ "Yes," said Suho. Kyungsoo could tell he was struggling with following protocol, because there was no protocol in this situation. Kris wasn't Suho's superior, so they would have to decide on a leader for this new squad; a new squad made from two squads was never done before, so there were no guidelines on where to report. "I knew him three years before I enlisted." _

_ "Which was when?" Kyungsoo glanced at Suho, biting his lip and Suho's jaw clenched. Kris was acting like he had any power over Suho, and Suho didn't like it. Neither did Kyungsoo, and, judging from Luhan’s clenched jaw, neither did he.  _

_ "Seven years ago." _

_ Kris' eyes grew wide for a short moment, and Kyungsoo smirked. Suho has been with the military for many more years than anyone else. He was around when the last corps graduated, seeing as he enlisted around the same time as them. It always seemed to Kyungsoo their superiors had been planning this for seven years already.  _

_ "That makes you the leader of this squad," said Kris, bowing his head in acknowledgement. Suho nodded curtly and turned back to his squad, who were anxiously waiting by the door.  _

_ "This is my unit," said Suho, motioning to Kyungsoo and the others. "Kyungsoo, Chen, Baekhyun and my second-in-command, Luhan." Kyungsoo shuffled his feet nervously. All eyes were trained on him and his friends - he wasn't used to be so in the center of all the attention. He didn't like it. Baekhyun, someone who could read these sort of things well, gave his hand a comforting squeeze. Luhan nodded to Kris.  _

_ "Hullo," said Kris, noticeably dropping his formal demeanor for an even more casual one. "This is Sehun, as you know." Kris gestured to the sharp-faced boy. "This is Kai -" he gestured to the beautiful boy who Kyungsoo still couldn't really look at. "-Lay-" a kind-looking boy with a distant look in his eyes "-Chanyeol-" a tall boy with flaming red hair that stuck up in every direction, an oddly innocent face and pointy ears “-Tao-” a boy with oddly swollen eyes and dark circles "-and my second-in-command, Xiumin." Xiumin was shorter than even Kyungsoo, it seemed. He didn't look very old either, but there was something in the way he held himself that set Kyungsoo on edge.  _

_ "How many missions have they done?" Suho asked, never one to leave out any details. He was thorough three years ago too, so it didn’t surprise Kyungsoo at all that he was doing this.  _

_ "Sehun has done none," said Kris, and Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow. The boy seems old enough to have been at least a few missions so far. "He became legal after most of the mess from the war was cleaned up." Kyungsoo frowns. That wasn't too long ago, so this guy must be even younger than he estimated. "Kai and Tao have done one, just because they’re not much older than Sehun. Chanyeol’s done twenty-two, Lay and Xiumin have done thirty-seven, and I have done twenty-eight." _

_ "You've done less than your subordinates?" asked Suho. Kyungsoo raised an eyebrow, certainly not missing the biting snide this time. Suho always was one to insult with subtlety, so Kyungsoo never really noticed. But over the years he’d become finely attuned to it. He had no doubt Suho had already bit at Kris several time now, just to test him, but Kyungsoo only noticed it this time.  _

_ "Both Xiumin and Lay were part of a black-ops squad right before enlistment," said Kris, his gaze darkening. Kyungsoo let out surprised breath, turning his gaze to Lay again. That look that seemed distant before suddenly held not the weird feeling of the guy being high, but more lost in his own thoughts. He supposed Lay was more concentrated when he's working. Xiumin's oddly intimidating presence was explained, though.  _

_ "Ah. I guess that makes Xiumin my second-in-command," said Suho, turning back to Luhan and shrugging apologetically. Luhan smiled, and Kyungsoo got the feeling he really didn't mind. "I have done forty missions, and my squad has done twenty-one." _

_ "No individual missions?" Kris asked, this time his voice dripping with ridicule. The next few years were going to be great, Kyungsoo realized with a small sigh. If Kris and Suho weren’t going to get along now, it would be unlikely that the two squads would in general. _

_ "No. A war nearing its end has no use for espionage. My soldiers are specialized, of course, but their specialties are preferred by the ground unit," said Suho, his patient smile growing wider and wider, and subsequently, faker. "Chen, for example, was recommended for the elite ground unit last week. Luhan and I have been asked for a command position, while Baekhyun and Kyungsoo have been pre-promoted to captains when this mission is over." _

_ Kyungsoo cringed, slowly shuffling to the back. Suho always did this when people question his command or his squad - boasting their superiority. It was true that they were more capable than most rookies, but only because they've been trained as graduated elites since day one. All those things he's said were true, but none were actually in effect yet, so their validness were questionable. Still, at least Kris seemed both surprised and impressed, as well as a little ashamed. It was satisfying, sure, but Kyungsoo still wanted to kick Suho’s ass.  _

_ "Permission to speak freely, sir," Chanyeol said in a deep voice that certainly did not match his face. Suho nodded. "Kris meant no disrespect, but as a unit, we are not to be underestimated. Lay has been pre-promoted to medical officer; Xiumin will be a captain; and Kai and Sehun have been asked to join the elite despite lacking experience, along with Kris." Chanyeol pressed his lips together, seemingly proud of himself. Kyungsoo nearly scoffed, though he knew it wasn’t fair. Chanyeol had his pride to defend, after all.  _

_ "What about you?" Chen asked, a playful smirk already on his lips. Kyungsoo smiled a little, already knowing what Chen was thinking. The next few years were going to be hard on Chanyeol if he didn’t know how to handle pranks.  _

_ "Chanyeol has not managed to move further due to disciplinary issues," said Kris, rolling his eyes and sighing deeply. Chanyeol grinned and gave a downright childish giggle, not-so-gently slapping Sehun's shoulder. Sehun didn't even react, probably because Chanyeol did that a lot.  _

_ Kyungsoo glanced at Chen and Baekhyun. Those two were being considered for the positions Suho listed, the only thing holding them back being their own disciplinary issues. If this guy was worse than them, Kyungsoo wasn't sure he would survive the next mission.  _

_ "Well, I suggest we all get some rest. I see management has placed more beds here, so that's not an issue." _

_ Kyungsoo looked around, only now noticing the three extra bunks pushed against the walls. Suho continued. "I need to go over some things with Kris, so get yourselves settled in." _

_ Kyungsoo pushed himself into the room just before Suho and Kris came through, their considerably wider bodies taking up most of the doorway. With a sigh he threw himself onto his bed, raising an eyebrow when Baekhyun nervously sat down next to him.  _

_ "What is it?" Kyungsoo said, sitting up, his concern for Baekhyun growing by the second.  _

_ "That guy Chanyeol," Baekhyun whispered. "What's his deal?" Kyungsoo followed Baekhyun's gaze to where Chanyeol was laughing loudly, slapping both Kai and Sehun on their shoulders. His eyes were screwed shut and all his teeth bared, so that Kyungsoo couldn't tell if he was laughing or in a lot of pain. Still, he fought the urge to laugh along with him.  _

_ "I think you have competition for being the most annoying guy I know," said Kyungsoo dryly. It was true. The explosive laughter and excessive happiness he saw from that were already starting to get on his nerves. He turned when he heard a small giggle behind him. _

_ Lay and Xiumin were sitting on the bed next to Kyungsoo's, their shoes tucked in beneath neatly. Lay had a sheepish look on his face while Xiumin's cheeks puffed up while he smiled. It was kind of weird.  _

_ "Chanyeol's our happy virus," said Xiumin, flicking a stray strand of dark red hair from his face. Huh. When he moved in the shadow, Xiumin's hair seemed almost black. "He doesn't know how to chill." _

_ Kyungsoo scoffed. "That makes three of them," he said, gesturing subtly to Baekhyun, who didn't pick up on it. He looked back and saw Chen laughing along with Chanyeol happily. Xiumin snickered.  _

_ "I don't think I've ever seen Chanyeol sad," said Lay, laughing quietly, his shoulder shaking as he hung his head low. "He's the one to keep us all sane." _

_ “Yeah,” said Tao, his voice far higher than Kyungsoo thought it would be. He sat behind Lay, nodding shyly to Kyungsoo and Baekhyun. “But he also makes us go insane.” _

* * *

 

Now Kyungsoo finds himself boiling with rage, his fists clenching by his side and the man he grew so close to over the period of two years staring at him wide-eyed. He grits his teeth, adrenaline coursing through his veins. He throws the covers off his legs, preparing himself to throw himself forward when Kai stops him with a hand on his chest. 

"Whatever you're about to do, you're not strong enough yet," Kai says, his eyes brimming with concern and hand trembling and cold. Kyungsoo doesn't care. Nobody makes him happier than Kai does, nobody makes him feel safer than Kai does, but he doesn't care. They fucked up. They really did. And Kyungsoo knows who to blame. He shakes Kai's hand off, surging forward. 

He's naked save for the briefs, he noticed with a shock when his feet land on the floor. Doesn't matter. His legs tremble beneath his weight, but he manages to take the steps he needs to take. 

He grunts, the effort of just walking forming sweat on his brow. He’s fucking pathetic. 

He reaches forward and grabs a blanked out Chanyeol by the collar, using all his strength to shove him up against the wall. Chanyeol doesn’t even yelp. His eyes widen a little in surprise, but he just lets Kyungsoo do anything. Fucking pathetic. 

"WHAT THE HELL, CHANYEOL?!" Kyungsoo bellows, frustrations of these past few months finally coming through. He's been sad. He's been afraid. Now it's time to be angry. And Kyungsoo's been waiting for it. 

Chanyeol didn't see it coming. His eyes are blown wide with shock, the red rims stark against his paling skin. "Look at them!" Kyungsoo shakes Chanyeol's collar roughly, ignoring the startled cries behind him and shaking off Kai's futile attempts to pry him away from Chanyeol. "Look at them!"

Chanyeol doesn't say anything, but his eyes pass over the room, the fear Kyungsoo saw earlier still not gone. Good. This motherfucker deserves everything he's got coming. 

"LOOK AT THEM!" 

Because the despair, the terror, the pain - it's all Chanyeol's fault. Maybe nobody could've saved Baekhyun from that woman, but Chanyeol sure as hell could've saved them from this hell. 

"To keep emotions steady," Kyungsoo seethes, spit flying onto Chanyeol's face. Chanyeol flinches, tears springing into his eyes. They don't spill. Why don't they ever spill? "That was your mission! You failed us!" 

Chanyeol lets out a single, pathetic sob before sinking back to the floor. Kai grabs Kyungsoo by the shoulders and slings him to the bed, his gentle way of touching Kyungsoo replaced by a much rougher, angrier manner he usually reserves for Sehun and Chanyeol. There's a flame in his eyes Kyungsoo can't really read, but he knows it's not directed at him. 

They were all thinking what he said. Nobody here is standing up for Chanyeol. 

Nobody should. 

The room is silent, nobody daring to make a move. Nobody wants to make a move. Kyungsoo can just  _ feel  _ their anger, under the glares thrown his way and the shocked faces of his friends. It’s not to him. They’re all angry at Chanyeol.

"You're right." 

A whisper in a deadly silent room. A promise made in the fading darkness. 

Chanyeol barely has to say anything, but it's enough. Two words are all it takes. 

Kyungsoo can breathe. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait!
> 
> With everything that happened concerning Jonghyun, I fell into a bit of a slump and was very unmotivated. 
> 
> HOWEVER, I did get plenty of time to think and I've figured out where I want this fic to go, so put your seatbelts on because we're going to be here for a while longer.

The moment the door opens, it's like a bomb explodes. 

Lay is sitting by Chen's side, watching his chest rise and fall with every breath, waiting for the tingling in his fingertips to stop. He hasn't lost his powers - it's quite the opposite. He used them to the point of exhaustion. He figures it'll be a while before he can use them again. So he watches Chen sleep and does as much as he can without his powers, which isn't much. It's not that Chen is grievously injured or anything - he's mostly bruised to the point Lay doubts he'll be able to move very much on his own. He's more worried about Xiumin.

Xiumin refuses to sleep, he refuses to eat, he even refuses to move from the spot he's been curled on for hours. His eyes are bloodshot and encircled with shadow, and his hands shake where they're folded on his knees. His gaze keeps flickering back and forth, and to Lay, he honestly looks like a skittish, frightened animal. Lay fears he'll collapse soon, or that the frost will settle permanently in his body. 

He voiced his concerns to Kyungsoo - who seems to be in charge for now, while Suho rests a little more - but Xiumin overheard him and protested. 

"You'll heal him first," Xiumin had rasped, in that determined voice Lay knew all too well. He knew better than to argue. It won't take long to heal Chen, anyway. 

Still, his powers are taking longer to return than usual, Lay thinks. He strokes his chin listlessly, when the door on the opposite side of the door heaves open with a great groan. 

The effect is immediate. Lay shoots to his feet and throws himself in front of Chen, who jerks awake. The pressure in the room drops, making Lay's ears pop until Kai pulls Sehun back roughly. Xiumin struggles to his feet, using the wall to brace himself. Chanyeol stands behind Kyungsoo, seemingly attempting to hide behind Kyungsoo's small frame. Kyungsoo's shoulder are tense and his fists clench. 

The only one who doesn't seem panic stricken was Suho, who sits up calmly and faces the door, his face betraying no emotion whatsoever. 

A man appears in the doorway, the same one who led them here yesterday - the tall one with the ugly teeth and towering height. "Woah," he chuckles nervously, seeing the angry glares and apprehensive stances. Lay's heart pounds in his chest. "It's just me."

That's not a very comforting thought. 

Chen wordlessly grabs Lay's hand and gives it a gentle squeeze. Lay knows Chen won't be able to do much, but he feels reassured all the same. 

"The commander wants to meet you," the man says, gesturing behind him to the deserted hallway. "Follow me." He walks out, leaving the door open behind him. 

Lay glances at Suho, uncertainty creeping over the back his neck like cold air. They don't know anything about the people here. Sure, they can't be much worse than M.A.M.A., but there's too many unknowns. 

Suho sighs and looks at Kyungsoo and Lay, respectively. Then he nods and vaguely gestures around. Lay hesitates only for a second, unsure what Suho means, but then Xiumin tries to walk and stumbles. Lay shoots forward off the bed and catches Xiumin before he falls, hooking his arms under Xiumin's and hauling him to his feet. 

"I got you," Lay says, his voice strained under Xiumin's formidable weight. He never knew someone who looked so small could weigh this much. Xiumin doesn't resist him, which is definitely a first. 

He ducks under Xiumin's arm and looks up at Kyungsoo, who has somehow managed to get Sehun to support Chen while Chanyeol follows him meekly, like a duckling or some shit. Kai throws one last bitter look at Kyungsoo before following Suho through the door, head hanging low and shoulders slumped. 

Lay knows Kai's still angry at Kyungsoo for his crackdown on Chanyeol a few hours ago, even though not even Chanyeol seems to be particularly upset about it. To be honest, Lay doesn't understand why Kai felt Kyungsoo's attack was so unfair - Lay himself silently agreed with everything that was said, though he'd never admit it. Chanyeol messed up, and though Lay feels a painful pang in his chest every time he looks at those now-lifeless, listless eyes, he deserved what he got. Lay wants to help him, desperately - he wants to help all of them, but he knows he can't. Chanyeol and Kai have to figure this one out between the two of them, including Kyungsoo. 

He sighs and adjusts his grip on Xiumin shoulder and trudges out of the room, into the eerily empty hallway. He's got no idea how long they've been in that room - it's been a couple of hours, but that's kind of vague. Compared to the bustling hecticness of this morning, the hall now is strangely ominous, and Lay doesn't like it. 

"Where is everyone?" Suho asks up ahead to the man, his voice echoing past Lay and Xiumin. Lay groans, his limbs still stiff as he walks forward. Chanyeol glances back at him once, fingers fidgeting with the back of Kyungsoo's sweater. 

"We brought you right before work hours," says the man, sighing and pushing open a fire door, holding it open for the small gang to pass. Small gang. Fuck, Lay really needs to get more sleep. "Everybody was out in these halls to get to their assigned stations on time, but now nobody comes in here except if they gotta go."

"How long have we been in here?" Suho asks, pressing himself against the wall to let the others pass. Lay perks up, he'd like to know too. Suho ducks under Xiumin's other arm, lifting some of the weight off Lay's aching shoulders. Lay nods in thanks, trudging forward a little faster, ignoring Xiumin's attempts at walking on his own. 

"Fourteen hours," says the man. Lay falters. 

"How long do the people work here?" asks Sehun, voicing the doubt Lay immediately had. If he remembers correctly, Earth's hours are twenty-four, instead of twenty-six like on Exo. That means that fourteen hours would be way too long for humans to keep going. If the human body were somewhat similar to his own, which Lay assumes they are, seeing as they look so similar, then they need at least more sleep than what they get. 

"Fifteen," says the man curtly, obviously aware of the uncomfortable ripples passing through them. Lay knows the others don't really care for whatever happens to the people here - they've been through way too much shit for that - but if this is the way these people treat their own subjects, Lay can only imagine how he and his friends will be treated when they find out who they really are. 

Lay glances at Suho nervously, only to find him already looking back with a meaningful glint in his eyes. He still looks exhausted - the shadows around his eyes showing no signs of fading soon, and the red blotches left by his tears still standing stark against pale, clammy skin. Right now they need Suho at his best, just in case these people want to use them just as M.A.M.A. did. However, he doubts he can carry Xiumin by himself any further, and nobody else will be useful right now. Sure, Kai, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol are strong, but Lay isn't sure if he really wants to leave them in charge of Xiumin right now. 

Lay, though he'd never brag about it out loud, is far more perceptive than he lets show to people outside his immediate circle. He can see the tremble in Kyungsoo's legs with every step or the jittery movements of Chanyeol's hands and the drag of Kai's feet over the floor. It's there for the others as well - Sehun struggles under Chen's weight, though it's something he could easily have lifted were he not so beaten down himself, Xiumin and Chen can both barely move, and Lay feels sleep pressing behind his eyes like a demon waiting to take him - but he deems those three less... emotionally stable, at the moment. 

Lay sighs, taking his hand off Xiumin's stomach to run it through his still stiff hair, frustration running through his veins. He hates this - having to check up on and diagnose his friends behind their backs - but he has no choice. The earlier he can identify the problems, which there are a  _lot_ of, the better he can solve them. That's his responsibility after all. 

If Chanyeol is there to prevent this sort of stuff, then Lay is the one who gets rid of it once it's there. 

They stop in front two large, heavy steel doors that are seemingly fortified more than anything else in this bunker, and Lay shifts his feet anxiously, not sure if he can handle being so thoroughly locked up. Next to him Xiumin takes a deep breath, eyes set and jaw clenched, and Suho straightens up to his full height, lifting his chin nearly haughtily. 

"Keep up the act, Lay," he whispers, not loud enough for the nameless man to hear, but enough for Lay to hear him clearly. Lay nods though Suho can't see him, just out of acknowledgement. Now the others behind him may also see that Lay was given an order - they all know what it is, anyway. 

It was an agreement they made years ago. It was convenient, safer, and overall, an advantage to them. Whenever they were in a situation that required them to face multiple strangers or potential threats, Lay was to play dumb. It's not that hard for him to do anyway - Lay is very aware he looks quite spaced-out at times. Lay, especially since they got their powers, is the most vulnerable in the entire group. It sucks to admit, but it's true. 

He trained with the ground unit for three years, but he never quite reached their same unit. He was often pulled away to attend to his medical studies, and as a result, he missed out on extra training time. After they got their powers, he was the only one without defensive capabilities. He may be a better fighter than the majority of the intelligence unit, Chen excluded, but if placed in a helpless scenario, he would likely be the first to die. That doesn't mean he doesn't love his powers - he does, actually. His powers are probably the most crucial to protect. The others get hurt often, that's just part of the job, and Lay makes sure they don't die. 

So he straightens up and adjusts his grip on Xiumin's arm, pulling him closer against him and placing his palm on Xiumin chest to steady him. His fingers tingle - not long now. 

Suho looks back, a pondering look in his eyes. Lay follows his gaze to Kyungsoo, who nods resolutely, taking Chanyeol's hand and pulling it behind him. Chanyeol stands, shoulders hunched, and head hanging low, but that awful daze gone from his eyes. Lay sighs in relief and turns back to face the door. 

Suddenly it opens with a great groan, swinging to the side slowly. Lay feels a hand at the small of his back, warm and trembling terribly. He glances back and sees Kai, his face betraying no sign of his discomfort, though Lay knows otherwise. 

"Yah," whispers Lay, fixing his gaze to the door again. He knows he shouldn't say this now, but he pities Kai, so fuck it. "Just stick with me, okay?"

The hand on his back clenches a little, bunching the sweater there.

Lay takes a deep breath, and follows Suho into the room, dragging Xiumin along with him. 

His heart slams faster in his chest as soon as he passes the door and comes face-to-face with a room full of glaring, intimidating people gathered round a large, oval table made of what looks like glass and steel. The room is dark, shadows filling every corner and falling from the faces scrutinizing him and his friends now. There's a large board on the wall adjacent to the door, shining almost too brightly, notifications and other data Lay can't really see popping up quickly. The table also shines, the glass surface showing what looks like a map, with red points appearing and disappearing quickly. 

Despite the fear coursing through him like a freight train, Lay keeps his face indifferent, narrowing his eyes a little in a manner which he knows will make him appear dazed and sluggish. It isn't easy, with all his nerves on edge, but he manages. 

He looks around, moving slowly and deliberately, making sure not to react too much to anything. There's a  man with a square face and intense, green eyes under greying brown hair. Judging from the way everyone else is crowded around him, he's the leader. It seems he's figured out who their leader is, too, because his eyes are fixed on Suho. Lay shivers slightly. Suho would never waver under that man's gaze, but Lay isn't sure if he could handle anything so intense. 

There's a woman by the leader's side, with flowing grey hair and a kind look in her eyes. She smiles when she catches Lay's gaze, the lines around her mouth and eyes deepening merrily. Lay finds himself smiling back dumbly, more out of habit than anything. He decides it's not something that makes him look any smarter, so it's okay. 

The other man from before is there too, standing more off to the side. He glares at them menacingly, hand fingering the gun by his hip. Lay's gaze. however, is pulled to a sudden movement to the man's right. Something moves in the shadow. 

First a elegant leg appears, clothed in tight, black pants. The leg leads to a torso in a thick, ugly green jacket, and then-

"You!" Sehun roars behind Lay, making him flinch a little and Lay whirls around. Chen yelps as Sehun steps out from under his arm, fury blazing in his eyes as he surges forward, presumably to kill that woman over there. 

Lay almost wants to let him pass, but Kyungsoo steps in front of Sehun fearlessly, yelling something incoherent. Lay agrees that attacking her might not be the best idea. 

"It's not her," Suho says calmly behind Lay, and Sehun stills. What the hell is going on? The girl Lay just saw looked exactly like Kim Judy, the woman who tortured them for months. Lay turns again and looks at the girl. 

She does look very much like Kim Judy... except she's younger. Her eyes are casted to the sky, an irritated expression on her face. Lay honestly wants to wipe it off her face. 

But nearly everything is the same - it's unnerving. From the white hair to the sharp curve of her nose and the blood-red lips, it's all the same. The only two differences are their eyes and hair. This girl's hair is far shorter, not even reaching her shoulders. Where Kim Judy's eyes were cold and calculating, full of hatred and frost, this girl's eyes are curious, kind and warm. It's weird to see, really. 

"I see you've met my sister," says the girl, and god, even the voice is the same - seductive and smooth. "My name is Jimin." Then she smiles, and Lay feels his heart skip a beat. He's not about to fall in love or anything, but she's fucking beautiful and he doesn't get how he ever thought she looked like her sister. 

"I heard from Michael that you eight came from the laboratory," says the leader in a deep voice. He straightens up to his full height, and Lay has to resist the urge to whistle in awe. He stands probably around the same height Kris did - just slightly taller than Chanyeol, who's grown a lot this past year. Lay can only assume that Michael is the man who led them here, with the ugly teeth and odd smile. 

"That's right," says Suho, sounding oddly authoritative again. Lay just narrows his eyes and lets Suho do his thing. "So please excuse my men for reacting to violently just now." Suho gives a small bow, to which the leader raises an eyebrow. 

"That's alright," he says. "I can see M.A.M.A. treated you no differently from others before you," he continues, nodding carefully to Xiumin and Chen still draped over their friend's shoulders. Lay stills. There were others?

"What do you mean, others?" asks Suho, only glancing behind him a little when Kai twists his fingers in the hem of his sweater. Lay notes that Suho doesn't ask the question that's obviously burning in his mind.  _Are there people from Exo here?_

"You're not the first group M.A.M.A. has tried to make into its puppets," says the woman. Her voice is raspy but not unkind, if anything a little tired. "Time after time they take young kids like yourselves to train and make into these super-assassins. I've got to say though," she says, smiling sadly, "this is the first time I've seen so many survivors."

If there were people who came back, that could mean...

"You mean you've got survivors in here?" asks Kai, his face suddenly bright and hopeful. 

The woman's face falls, and Lay knows he won't like her answer. 

"No. Most people die in the maze or in the experiments, but those few who do come back end their own lives after the first few weeks."

"Oh," says Kai quietly, his voice suddenly small has he ducks behind Suho again. There's guilt and disappointment in his face and Lay can't honestly say he feels any different. There was some twisted hope in his heart that maybe, just maybe, there may have been others from Exo that were stranded here. It wouldn't make any sense, since they were the only unit on a mission when their home went up in flames, but still. 

The leader sighs. "My name is Peter Carney. I am the commander of this base. Jimin will take you down to the training floor, so please follow her."

Lay was about to protest, and he could see Xiumin open his mouth to do the same thing, but one look from Suho shut them both up. Still, doing anything physical will surely mean the collapse of Xiumin's body. Mr. Carney should have at least have the courtesy of letting Xiumin and Chen rest up while the rest of them go do whatever this Jimin girl wants them to do. That's not to say Lay isn't scared, but he would gladly bear both his own burden and Xiumin's in this. 

Suho shakes his head slowly and nods to Jimin, who waits for them by a door on the opposite side of the door. She smiles reassuringly, tilting her head a little as she lets her gaze slide over them. Lay watches her carefully, taking a note of the pause she takes at someone behind him - he can't see who it is. Her smiles fades just a little, but then she seems to catch herself and she turns. 

Suho resolutely follows her, no falter in his step or any waver in his eyes even as he walks briskly past Mr. Carney. Lay goggled at him for a moment, but then he followed him, smiling awkwardly at Mr. Carney, struggling under Xiumin's weight still. 

Jimin leads them through a dark corridor, down one flight of metal stairs in a room that seems to stretch all the way down to hell, and then into a large, white room. For a second Lay is reminded of the laboratory, but then he sees the shooting range and the messy equipment littering the walls again, and something very close to relief floods through him. He's not stupid enough to let his guard down, though. 

"Wait here," Jimin says with a little smile, winking at Suho, who doesn't seem impressed by her at all. Lay doubts it's got anything to do with the fact that Suho doesn't go for girls, so to say, but Suho seems colder than usual. Sure, the last few months need to be taken into account here, but Lay still would've thought that Suho would smile back at least a little. Lay prides himself in being one of the more approachable members of this team, but he never pegged Suho as someone who lagged very far behind him. So his behavior is surprising, to say the least. 

She disappears from his view, leaving him to help Xiumin slowly to the ground. Frankly, he was losing any feeling in his shoulders, so this is a relief, but something about having Xiumin  _there_ and not where he can quickly grab him to escape is making Lay a little uncomfortable. 

Before he can do anything about it, though, Jimin appears in front of them again, holding a pile of dark-grey clothes. "There's three different sizes, and I picked the ones that seemed to fit you all," she says, throwing the pile on the floor. "This is the standard uniform for this place, but seeing as today was an exception, you saw everyone in their own clothes."

Lay nods. He steps forward and picks one of the things he honestly has no other word for except rags. He searches for a tag, and decides medium should be something that fits him. He picks it up and internally cringes. Who the fuck made the decision that  _overalls_ were a good idea. Usually Lay isn't picky about his clothes at all, but overalls is where he draws the line. 

He shoots a long, suffering look at Kyungsoo, who usually agrees with him on these kind of things. All he gets in return though, is an awkward smirk Lay really wants to wipe off his face. It's almost as if Kyungsoo enjoys seeing him suffer. He walks back and leans down to whisper in Kyungsoo's ear. 

"I thought I could trust you," he says, nudging Kyungsoo's shoulder with his own. Kyungsoo smiles.

"This is fucking hilarious," Kyungsoo whispers back, holding up his own, slightly smaller overall. His eyes shift to something behind Lay, and Lay follows his eyes. 

Jimin is standing there expectantly, arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. An awkward shift ripples through the room, and Lay wonders if he should be the first to say something. Like asking where they could change or something. 

"Well come on!" she urges, showing no signs of even turning to give them privacy. And it's not like they're the only ones in this massive room - there's people milling around one of the screens attached to the wall, occasionally throwing back curious glances with raised eyebrows and smirks splayed on lips. It's unnerving, really. "We don't exactly have time for you guys to wait around here, so go!"

Lay scoffs and shakes his head. He thinks about making some snarky remark about the looks this chick has been throwing at the people standing behind him - which is about half his team - but he decides against it. Instead he takes initiative, though he really doesn't want to, and sheds the white sweater that's been stuck to his back for months. 

He doesn't bother looking down on his chest. He already knows there's scars everywhere - he always made sure not to spend too much energy on healing himself - though he doesn't know exactly where they are. He doesn't want to see the protruding bones or the ugly shadows cat by his ribs or the dark bruises littering his body. 

His fingers fumble with his boots, and he turns so he isn't facing Jimin, whose face is a little more pleased than he'd like it to be. Instead he's faced with a red-faced Kyungsoo in the midst of pulling his foot through the leg of the overall. His torso is clean, if not a little paler and skinnier than it should be, Lay notes, but his legs are dirtied with scars, shaking even after the amount of rest he got. 

Kyungsoo smiles sadly when he sees Lay's roaming eyes. Lay doesn't have a reputation for being exactly pure and innocent, and he's certain Kai's currently glaring a hole into the side of his head, but Kyungsoo seems to understand. Sure enough, when Lay glances to the side, there's Kai looking at him with murder in his eyes. Lay chuckles softly and decides to put on a show for the girl behind him. 

Not in the way that might get her to fall or him, sure, but in a way that gets his message across. 

He's not exactly certain how, but he manages to get himself tangled up in his overalls, to the point where he can barely move. He looks up, smiles at Jimin sheepishly and wiggles a little more, curled in on himself uncomfortably. 

"I'm stuck," he says to her, squeezing his eyes shut as innocently as possible. 

Jimin rolls her eyes and looks at Suho. "Is he simple or something?" she asks, and Lay just about wants to slap the smile off her face. All he does, though, is chuckle lightly, keeping his face from showing anything other than pure, cute incompetence. 

Suho just chuckles darkly and helps Lay put his uniform on properly, giving a praising squeeze to his arm. "Something like that," he mutters, and Lay smiles sweetly at Jimin, watching her raised eyebrows falls back into place and a pleasant smile form on her pretty lips. He's gotta say, she seems quite sharp.

Lay realizes the overalls aren't so bad once they're all fully clothed. Sure, if he had a choice he would never wear them, but they don't look half as bad on people like Kai and Sehun. Then again, they were just about made to look good in anything. 

They pinch tightly at his waist, and sit nice and straight on his shoulders like a proper uniform. He leaves the top button open, just for a little breathing room. He's got plenty of pockets - which he greatly appreciates - on his chest and on his thighs, and the color - though a weird mix between green and dark green - is better than white. His boots are too tight, but not uncomfortably so, so Lay decides to ignore it. 

He bends his knees a little to let Xiumin put an arm around his shoulder, smiling a little when Xiumin sighs exasperatedly. 

Lay stills, heart racing in his chest and relief washing through him. The tingling in his fingers stopped. 

There's nothing he can do now, but at least now he knows that Chen and Xiumin will be alright. Not to put too much faith in his powers or anything, but Lay is confident he can pull this off quickly as soon as he gets the chance to. 

"Follow me." Jimin's clear voice pulls him from his thoughts, and Lay adjusts the grip he has on Xiumin's arm. He takes his place beside Suho, nudging him a little with his elbow. He trusts Suho to get the message, and lags behind a little again. He can't appear to be on the same level as Suho now - not even close. That task is more for someone like Xiumin or... Luhan. Neither of them is available, so Lay lets him lead alone, though he really doesn't want to. 

Jimin leads them to one of the thin mats arranged neatly on the floor in the corner, in the part of the hall where the ceiling hangs lower. Concrete pillars surround them here, and Lay feels oddly suffocated. Whether it's because the lights here that ugly white or the shadows cast on the dark walls are uncanny and imposing, he doesn't know. But there's something setting him on edge again. 

Jimin faces them, heels planted firmly in the mat so she's about Yixing's height, hands on her wide hips and a calculating look on her face. Lay sees Suho staring back just as hard, and he hides a smile. 

"Who's your best fighter?" Jimin asks, seemingly oblivious to Suho's glaring eyes. Lay doubts she is, though, because the corner of her mouth quirks up just slightly. If he weren't so focused on her, he might've missed it. 

"Xiumin," Suho says curtly, and Xiumin raises a shaky hand. Jimin frowns, eyes pensive, but then she nods, pursing her lips a little like she understands something. 

"Fine. Then I challenge you, leader."

Lay stills. How the fuck? 

This girl, just from what she observed from them so far, has managed to pick out their weakest fighter like it was nothing. He could assume it was coincidence, but he highly doubts it. The smirk on her face is just too smug. The only people he knows with the same skillset as her are himself and Suho, and they've been training for these kind of assessments. 

Before anyone can protest, Suho answers. "I accept."

Jimin smiles her pretty smile and walks to the other side of the mat, where a small crowd has already gathered to watch her. Suho turns and faces his team. 

"What the hell are you doing?!" hisses Kai, leaning forward, voice low and quiet. He looks more confused than angry, but Lay doubts that's all there is to it. "Are you crazy? What if she's far better than any of us?"

"I don't think so," says Kyungsoo, looking over Suho's shoulder at Jimin and the other humans gathered around her. "She would've picked Chanyeol or Sehun if that were true."

Lay nods. That makes sense. 

It's not even that Sehun and Chanyeol are their best fighters - they're not - but their size, strangely, is something skilled people often want to challenge. There were countless soldiers on Exo who often dared those two to a match - it was the main reason Chanyeol had disciplinary issues. Not that he was beaten often, anyway. 

 

"I don't want any of you stepping in," Suho says, straightening up and looking each of his remaining members in the eyes, raising an eyebrow as if he were scolding them and not ordering anything. "The fight ends when either Jimin or myself says it does, alright?"

There was a murmur of agreement, but not much else. Lay could tell that nobody really liked that Suho was doing this. 

Wait. Lay bit his lip, thinking over some of the suspicions he's had for some time. This would be the perfect opportunity to see if they're true, he decides. 

"Suho," says Lay, catching his leader by the arm just before he steps on the mat. Suho raises an eyebrow questioningly, and Lay leans forward so Suho can hear his whisper. "I need an assessment on her strength. Could you hold back a little and take a few, please?"

Suho leans back and nods, understanding already behind his eyes. Lay thinks Suho's had the same suspicions as Lay - that humans may not have the same average strength as them. It excludes whatever they found at the maze, but all the humans seem to struggle at least a little more with things Lay would've done easily. A few examples would be the heavy doors that marked the entrance of this bunker. 

The man - Michael - obviously put in a lot of effort to open that thing, but it didn't look at all that heavy to Lay. It planted some theories in his head, though.  

Suho reaches over Lay's shoulder, and Lay follows his hand. Suho squeezes Chen's shoulder. Chen stands right behind Lay and Xiumin, head hanging limply, forehead resting between Xiumin's shoulder blades. Lay smiles. 

Xiumin and Chen's relationship has been... complicated, so to say. They're quite private about it, always have been, but Lay always ends up hearing about everything anyway. At first Chen had thought Xiumin and Luhan were together - Lay can't say he thought any different despite knowing Xiumin for years - but Luhan's heart always lay somewhere else. Then there was that whole tense situation between the two units that was eventually diffused by the ever-so-innocent Tao and Sehun who felt the need to be close to just about everyone - in Lay's eyes they did it better than Baekhyun. 

It seems they're finally coming to terms with the fact that they've got limited time. Lay saw the way they stuck to each other when they were escaping, though he doubts there's currently more going on except fear they'll lose each other. He'd hate for them to be separated though. In fact, he'd be happier if they actually stuck together. If there's anything losing Tao, Luhan and Kris taught him, it's that time with the people you love is limited. 

Lay shakes his head and lowers himself to the floor, taking both Xiumin and Chen with him. They need to rest, and Lay's legs are tired still. Before he sits, however, he turns on his heel, leaving Xiumin and Chen behind, and reaches for Kyungsoo. 

Kyungsoo accepts his hand without hesitation. Lay glances at the affronted look he gets from Kai, full of warning and anger, and the confusion written on Chanyeol's face.

"Go to Sehunnie," says Lay to Chanyeol, nodding in a way he hopes to be encouraging. He throws one last look at the pure jealousy and regret written on Kai's face before pulling Kyungsoo between his legs. Kyungsoo, luckily, takes the hint immediately and leans back against Lay's chest, groaning only a little when Lay tangles their legs together. 

Lay isn't much taller than Kyungsoo, so this position is a little awkward, but the fact that he's quite a bit stronger than Kyungsoo makes it work somehow. Besides, Kyungsoo lost a lot of weight over the past few months - far more than Lay. Even when Chanyeol requested they gained as much muscle as possible, it was harder for Kyungsoo to get back.

Lay sighs deeply and focuses on Suho walking toward Jimin with his hand extended. Jimin takes it, smiling politely and Lay is again taken aback by how pretty she really is. Her face is a little rounder than her sister's, and there's no wicked glint in her eyes. Maybe her beauty isn't strangely overwhelming, but there's something very pure and innocent about her. Lay is nearly certain, though, that this woman has seen her fair share of shit, that she's had her innocence ripped from her just like everybody else. 

Her polite smile turns into a confident smirk, and Lay has to stop himself from snickering. Her courage is admirable, to say the least, seeing as she's got no idea how good at fighting Suho really is. He may be the worst combat fighter in the team, but that doesn't mean he's a bad one. In fact, he's actually really good. Lay has seen him fight countless times, besting foes left and right, always keeping his calm. 

Still, Lay has no idea how good this chick is either. For all he knows, her techniques could completely counteract Suho's strengths. That's not to say he's only got once - he has many - but Lay's experiences with humans so far have been unpredictable, so he's nervous. 

Suho takes a step back and raises his fists to the sides of his face, his feet apart and shoulder facing Jimin, his form perfect. Lay huffs. Suho'd better have perfect form after all those afternoons he spent with Kris, sparring over and over again. Lay always liked to watch when he had time - just because it was nice to see Suho drop his guard entirely. 

It's definitely up now. 

Jimin must've noticed, because she frowns as she gets into position as well. Her form is different from Suho's but Lay can tell it's comfortable for her - well practiced. 

Jimin makes the first move. 

She surges forward, keeping her body small by crouching forward a little, but not exposing her back to Suho. She's smart about her moves, putting one foot forward swiftly and smoothly ducking under Suho's half-assed counter. At least, Lay knows it's half-assed, but it looks pretty realistic. 

Suho effortlessly blocks the first blow with his elbow, ducking under the next right hook, grunting just a little. He's putting up a good show, but Jimin is good, too. She's quick, firing one attack after another, ducking and swooping past Suho's counters with practiced ease. 

That is, until Lay sees Suho dropping his guard for just a fraction of a second. Jimin sees it, too, and she lands a hard fist just under his ribs, twisting her body with the movement, holding nothing back. Suho merely winces and puts up his guard again, but Sehun, seated to Lay's left shifts uncomfortably. Lay puts a hand on his knee, squeezing lightly in a way he hopes to be reassuring. 

It's hard to tell, but Suho's definitely playing with her. Her attacks are fierce, ferocious and frankly, quite amazing. The sweat on her brow is the only sign of fatigue she's showing, and the determined look on her face shows her commitment to draw everything out of Suho. Lay can't help but gawk at her a little, though he knows he could easily beat her, the way she's fighting now. Her short, white hair is plastered to her face, falling out of the flimsy pony-tail strand by strand. 

She throws in attack after attack, seemingly not letting Suho throw in his own. Lay knows differently, though. Suho is merely waiting. 

_There._

Her first proper slip-up. 

She stumbles and makes a desperate, poorly calculated swipe at Suho's head, and it's like watching a switch flip. Suho's demeanor changes entirely, his defensive stance giving way to a proud, terrifying form. Lay can discern the exact moment Suho decides to stop playing, and go at it for real. He's reminded why most people were scared of Suho - not Xiumin, their best fighter; Sehun, with his killing glare, or Kris with his massive size - back on Exo. The look in his eyes is that of a true commander, and the fight ends suddenly. 

Suho lunges forward, swiping past Jimin's defense easily and landing a hard blow right on her stomach. She hunches forward slightly, pain and confusion written plainly on her face, but she glares straight back at Suho's face fearlessly. It's admirable, but it doesn't matter. 

"What the-" she has time to say before Suho steps in, twisting his body away from her and wrapping an arm around her body, slinging her over his back and slamming her into the ground within a second. It happens to fast Lay barely has time to follow, but the effect is immediate. 

Chanyeol starts, bumping his knee into the small of Lay's back. The crowd on the other side of the mat gasps collectively, shock written clearly on their faces. Xiumin huffs out a proud laugh, and Kyungsoo chuckles darkly, sending vibrations into Lay's chest. 

"I win," Suho deadpans before turning his back to Jimin and walking away to his teammates. He gives a curt nod to Lay, hand gingerly touching the spot where he let Jimin hit a few times. 

"Are you alright?" Kai says behind Lay, stepping over Xiumin effortless to attend to his leader. Suho nods and claps a hand on Kai's shoulder. Lay watches them, not aware of Jimin on the mat.

"What the hell was that?" Lay turns to her. She sounds affronted, but there's a look of amazement on her face. "You were barely keeping up with me and then you just did  _that_ out of nowhere!" Her eyes are wide, and Lay giggles. When he turns to Suho, he sees him smiling softly- something he hasn't seen in ages. 

Lay suddenly likes Jimin a whole bunch more. There's something about her. The way she speaks or the way her body moves is just... light. It's almost as if she's lifting a burden off their shoulders every time she flashes those beautiful smiles, or with every time her graceful hand flies up to brush a strand from her face the room becomes warmer. 

"Anyway," she says, her smile almost splitting her face in half. She hops toward them, light on her feet as ever, and reaches down to help Chen off the floor. Before he can protest, she ducks under his arm, supporting him and bouncing on the balls of her feet like a child. "Sorry about that, Leader. I've done my tests, so let's get you all to the med bay."

Without looking back she walks to the door, a bewildered Chen with an arm around her shoulder and Suho blinking after her. Then he chuckles softly and motions for the others to go first. Sehun picks Xiumin off the floor as if he weighs nothing, and for a moment Lay wonders why Xiumin doesn't put up a fight, but then he realizes Xiumin passed out some time during the fight. His head rests limply against Sehun's broad shoulder, and not for the first time he looks impossibly small. 

Lay waits for Kyungsoo to stand, watching Chanyeol and Kai carefully. He huffs. Kai may still be angry at Kyungsoo for whatever reason, but Chanyeol seems to have taken over his role as someone who is completely dependent on Kyungsoo. He's still in shock, Lay figures. To be honest, some part of him suspects there's quite a bit of shock still lingering in each of them - Xiumin and Chanyeol probably most of all. 

Lay lags behind, wanting to speak to Suho for just a bit. Suho winces a little with every step, his face contorting only when he sees Lay is the only one looking. 

"I won't give you my report now," says Suho, lifting his chin haughtily and walking along with Lay after the others. Lay sighs. This guy has been feeling the need to defend himself around everyone lately, and though he can't blame him, it's starting to get on Lay's nerves. 

"I know. I just wanted to see if you're alright," Lay says, eyeing Suho's ribs. He nearly stumbles over the raised edge of the mat, but he steadies himself quickly. 

"I'm fine, Lay," Suho says. 

"Are you really?"

Suho is silent for a second, stopping so they don't get too close to the rest of the group. Jimin is waiting by the door, happily chatting with Sehun and Kyungsoo. They seem to get along well. 

He frowns. "Are you?"

Lay stills. Suho joins the others, his stride more determined than before, leaving Lay dumbfounded behind. 

Is he?

No. 

Lay chews his lip, unexpected tears springing into his eyes. 

What the hell is this? Lay takes a deep breath in an attempt to control the sudden flow of sadness. Dammit, Suho. 

Lay suddenly remembers the first time they met the other unit. He was already close with Kris and Tao, being from the same region and everything. They'd often spend their free time together, lazing in the afternoon sun or picking up new tricks Tao knew. 

Oh. Tao. 

Lay always felt more attached to Tao. He was a year older than Sehun, sure, but Lay always felt the need to protect Tao more. He got scared easily and was often timid at best, despite being their best fighter by far. And his face would always light up so innocently whenever he talked about new techniques he'd learned or when the others teased him for being scared too easily. 

Kris was someone Lay looked up to. Maybe his leadership wasn't as strong as Suho, but he was always very understanding. To be honest, he always felt more like an older brother than a leader. His massive height and kind smile, along with the fact that he never really cared for protocol like Suho did made him very likeable to Lay. 

And then Luhan came along. He ended up being from the same region as the three of them, but he was very different. He understood everything easily and was kinder than anyone Lay had ever met - even Kai and Chanyeol. He was caring, soft and impossibly deadly when he had to be. He was small, but his presence was so big it often blinded Lay. His smile was something Lay could never help but return. 

God, he misses them. 

It hits him like a truck, but all he can do is sniffle and hide behind Chanyeol's massive frame. 

He felt like he was the only one left. 

But he's not. 

Kai throws him a worried glance and Kyunsoo takes his hand. Chanyeol, seemingly snapping out of his trance for a second, makes himself even bigger. Sehun and Suho keep Jimin from asking questions. Chen steers her away. 

He's not. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are always appreciated ;)


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey hey!  
> so i started on chapter nine when a whole flurry of ideas came in for this chapter. I think a lot of you will either hate me or love me after this, but that's totally okay.

Something is wrong with Xiumin - Chen can tell. 

The others might not see it, but it's so obvious, in Chen's opinion. Xiumin's ability to hide things rival Suho's, and everyone understands that simple fact. Xiumin is secretive, always has been, and he likes to keep his personal feelings to himself. As their oldest, it's probably for the best that he does, most of the time. However, now that even Suho has shared at least some of his pain - Chen sincerely doubts that break-down he had last night was even close to half of it all - Xiumin shouldn't be afraid to let go a little. 

All their more private ones - Lay, Suho and Kyungsoo - have all shown at least a little of what they  _feel._ They're the responsible ones, so they don't do it often, and Chen thinks it's the last they'll see in a while, but Xiumin has stayed closed off. He didn't react when Suho showed more pain than he had in all the time Chen had known him, he didn't react when Kyungsoo raged to Chanyeol in a way that was so rare for him, and he didn't react when Lay silently cried behind Chanyeol's back a few minutes ago.

Xiumin has never been one to get very sad, anyway. And Chen doesn't want to probe him.

Even so, whenever he felt the need to hide something, he never pushed anyone away. 

He is, now. 

Chen doesn't know if it has anything to do with the fact that he's barely been able to fight, letting Suho get hit. Maybe he feels guilty about not being able to be there for his leader and his subordinates when they broke. He doesn't know and it frustrates him. 

So he opts for glaring at Xiumin's slumped back as they're led into another elevator, his arm slung around Lay's shoulder and feet still not cooperating properly. 

They're brought into the bridge again, where Commander Carney is waiting for them.  _Couldn't they at least send a few of us to the medbay?_ Chen thinks disgruntledly. He glances over at Xiumin again, exhaustion evident in the dark circles in his eyes. Or at very least the dorms. Xiumin needs rest, and Chen honestly thinks it would be best if he got his own bruises healed, too. He's eager to do  _something,_ instead of sitting around and waiting. 

"Ah, you're back," Commander Carney says, smiling kindly, his teeth not showing. Chen is reminded of the commanders back on Exo - they give off the exact same aura of easy authority. He glances at Suho. Suho's authority is different. It's not like Suho wasn't authoritative when they met - he really was - but the reason he's so powerful to the remainders of their group is because he's earned their trust. Which might also be the reason why Chen feels uneasy around Commander Carney. Something about him makes Chen want to drop all his guards and he doesn't like it one bit. "How did the evaluation go?"

"I recommend them for the ground program," says Jimin, snapping to attention. Chen bites the inside of his cheek, not liking how much like the military this place is. "I assessed their leader's skills and concluded they spent an extended period of time in the laboratory, with full training from Kim Judy."

"You could've just asked, y'know,"  Kyungsoo mutters under his breath, obviously not happy with being assessed like this. Chen, on the other hand, is rather enjoying this. He can't deny that Jimin is  _very_ good, but she's wrong about a number of things. Yes, they stayed in the lab for months, but no, they never received training. What she witnessed from Suho was years and years of training in the best facility in the entire quadrant. 

Commander Carney chuckles, a deep sound from deep within his chest. "Yes, but Jimin tends to be more reliable than survivors generally still in shock," he says with a nod to Chanyeol. Chen stills, his shoulders suddenly growing tense. He can feel Lay freeze under his arm, and together they slowly edge closer to Chanyeol. Apparently the rest of them had the same idea, because suddenly they've formed a protective circle around him, all glaring the Commander's way. All except Suho, of course, who stays as composed as ever. 

"They also knew each other before they were taken in," Jimin says amusedly, a small smile splayed on her lips. Chen can feel a large hand fumble for his, and he takes it gladly, giving it a comforting squeeze. 

The Commander regards them for a moment, stroking his chin thoughtfully. Then he sighs. "I want them under full surveillance for three weeks. Then we can start the program. Dismissed." He flicks his wrist, disregarding them and letting Jimin lead them away. 

Chen can barely register what's happening, but Jimin is already leading them back to the dorm, saying she wants to speak to them. 

Once they're there, door closed without a word spoken between them, Jimin sighs, closing her eyes. Lay ducks out from under Chen's arm, helping him sit on the bed. Chen clenches his teeth as his muscles scream in protest, but he doesn't make a sound. 

"I'm sorry about that," Jimin says, sounding truly apologetic. If not, a little guilty. "The Commander likes to be thorough, and we've found people tend to hide things from us." 

"It's alright," says Suho, pointing to the chair in the corner, silently ordering Chanyeol to sit, which he does. "It's not like we didn't make our own observations."

Chen frowns, unaware of anything of the sort, but then he remembers the whispered words shared between Lay and Suho. He hadn't understood what Lay'd said, but he supposes he asked Suho to report something to him. 

Jimin smiles, not a trace of judgement or discomfort in her eyes. 

"Yeah. If you don't mind my asking," she says carefully, suddenly fidgety. "How long were you there?"

"Eleven months, two weeks and three days," says Suho robotically, his voice turning monotone the way it always does when he reports something. Jimin's eyebrows shoot up, no doubt surprised at the accuracy of Suho's statement, but she doesn't comment on it. 

"And the maze? How long were you there?"

Now it's Chen's turn to be surprised. It's like the entire room flinches, too, the memories still too fresh. 

"The first time, twenty-three hours. The second, seven hours," says Suho. 

"Did the walls still shift?" Jimin's voice is suddenly quiet, unsure. Chen narrows his eyes, taking a good look at her. It's faint, and probably covered with makeup, but there's a long scar running from the corner of her eye down to her jaw, barely noticeable but deepened by the shadows in the room. Chen hadn't seen it before, and he doesn't think the others did, either. Maybe her fight with Suho caused her to sweat the makeup off. 

Suho looks at her, head tilted and a distant look in his eyes. Chen knows he's thinking about more than the obvious. 

"Yes," he says, casting a glance at the rest in the room. They're all doing something, either walking to the adjourning room to take a shower or tucking in once again, conversing quietly, but Chen can tell they're all listening intently. "The monsters weren't gone either."

Chen sees Suho's eyes glide over the side of her face. She leans back against the wall, arms crossed but poise relaxed. 

"Is that where you lost your comrades?" 

The room suddenly goes quiet. Chen shifts uncomfortably, and lays a hand on Lay's knee, squeezing lightly. Lay looks at him, eyes stormy. 

Jimin seems to have noticed her mistake, because she clears her throat and stands up straight, her hands folding behind her back. 

"Sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"No," Suho says, cutting her off. He lets his gaze roam over the room, and when they pause on Chen, Chen nods. "That's fine. Yeah, we lost three during the first run, and one after the second run."

"After?"

This time Suho does throw her a warning glance, and Chen is grateful for it. He doesn't think he could handle discussing Baekhyun just yet. He's had eleven months to deal with Kris, Luhan and Tao, but less than two days to deal with Baekhyun. He needs more time, and that's saying something, seeing as there are other who are off far worse than him. Chanyeol, namely. Jimin casts her eyes down, biting her lip and making a little sound that sounds suspiciously guilty. 

"Why were you in the maze?" Chen asks, suddenly curious. He knows he shouldn't pry - they didn't let her, either - but the question is burning in his mind and out of his mouth before he can stop it. He mentally slaps himself. It was something he struggled with before, despite being a spy, and he'd been reprimanded for it enough. 

Jimin only smiles, though, seemingly understanding. 

"My sister wasn't always the way she was," Jimin says, her voice suddenly wistful, her gaze distant. Now the whole room listens, no longer pretending not to. Jimin chuckles, noticing the subtle shift in attention immediately. "We worked on a few projects together under the company our father started. You know it as M.A.M.A.. We made a number of...things. Including those droids you probably saw."

Chen suppresses a shiver, mind immediately wandering to not the droids but the guards, whose mystery he did not yet solve. They were human, but had no heartbeats. He still doesn't get it, and some part of him doesn't want to. 

"Anyway," Jimin continues, "I knew something was going on with her. Our father wanted her to inherit the company, so I just assumed she was under a lot of stress. Then one day she asked me to retrieve some files, and I accidentally found what she'd been working on. The training and the experiments she did to you were already going in full swing. She captured me while I was trying to escape, and put in me in the maze."

Jimin sighs, but Chen can't tell if the sadness in her face is because of the maze or the fact that it was her sister who put her there.

"I made it out, and she let me go, saying I wouldn't be able to defeat her anyway. So far... she's right."

Suho's expression suddenly softens. Chen's seen that face before - it's one he uses when talking to a child or a particularly distressed victim of sorts. It's unusual for him to be using it like this, though, unless he sees something Chen doesn't, which isn't that unlikely. 

"You must've been scared," Suho says, voice soft. Suddenly Chen understands. Jimin isn't distressed or panicking now, but she was then. Suho's soothing the memories coming back to her. 

"No," Jimin says, voice calm. Chen can see Suho's eyebrow shoot up, a rare display of emotion. Chen feels confused as well. He was fucking terrified, and he'd been trained to deal with this sort of stuff for ages. "I was feeling a lot of things, but not fear. I was here during the apocalypse. I don't get scared."

Apocalypse. 

So Earth  _was_ how they described it. Suho's intelligence hadn't been wrong - just outdated. Suddenly a lot of things make sense - for example why these people live underground. 

Chen nods. "That makes sense," he says, though it really doesn't. He can't tell if Jimin is incredibly brave or just stupid. From what he's seen so far, her intelligence just about matches Xiumin's, so her fearlessness is out of character. Any smart person would fear the maze. 

"No it doesn't," Sehun says, frowning slightly. He's on the bed, sitting slightly behind Chen, leaning back against the headboard. 

Jimin laughs, a clear sound that rings through the room. "No, it doesn't. I honestly think there's something wrong with me!" She laughs again, and Chen finds himself smiling along with her. Her laugh is contagious, it seems, because soon the whole room is snickering behind their hands - with a few exceptions, of course. 

Chen notes that Xiumin isn't laughing. Chanyeol and Kai aren't either, but it's Xiumin Chen's worried about. He's just staring miserably at his toes, pulling at a few loose strings in his overall. 

"I'll leave you for tonight. Report to the bridge tomorrow when the bell rings," Jimin says, winking at them all as she leaves. Chen smiles back. 

He likes her. 

* * *

 

"Go to the room for now," says Suho, far more composed than Commander Carney. Chen nods, not really having to ask why. 

Suho and Carney have been discussing the layout of the laboratory all morning now, and the rest of them have been growing restless. It got so bad Carney snapped at them in annoyance, only to apologize profusely. Chen can tell the bridge isn't built for this many people, with all of them kind of packed around the table and into the corners. 

"I'll send Jimin your way shortly," Carney says, tone still apologetic. Chen merely nods, pulling Chanyeol after him by the arm. Suho stays behind, his memory only second to Xiumin's. Xiumin is back in the room, though, after Lay healed Chen's bruises, leaving only the bright colors on his skin behind for show. Lay had ordered him to stay, fed up with Xiumin's refusal to rest. Chen had been relieved, but Lay hadn't been exactly careful with Xiumin, harsh words no doubt burning at least a little. 

Lay's been on edge, too, no doubt frustrated he can't heal everyone entirely. He's snappier than usual, and his cute and dumb mask falls more and more often. 

Once they're back in the room Chen collapses on the bed next to Xiumin, groaning loudly. He's frustrated, the itching need for something to do growing greater and greater by the hour. They've been here for one day and Chen already feels like he's dying of boredom.

That is, until someone  _finally_ says the wrong thing. 

Chen supposes they had it coming, leaving his condition so untreated. They brushed it away, hoping it would go away in good time. They'd been stupid. 

They're sitting in silence, nobody really knowing what to talk about. Chen sighs deeply. And again. And again. God, he feels like he's going crazy. 

"What do you think Baekhyun is doing now?" Kai blurts out, obviously saying it before he's thought about it. He immediately clasps his hand over his mouth, but the damage has already been done. His eyes are wide, and turn to Kyungsoo in panic. 

"Baekhyun?"

Chen can feel himself cringe into the mattress, and he wants to curl into a ball to avoid the storm he knows is coming. 

Chanyeol's voice is too loud, panicked, even. It rips through the room like a sword, cutting away the boredom and leaving something far, far worse. 

"Baekhyun?!" Chanyeol says again, his voice more of a gasp. Chen sits up and looks at him. He feels his heartbeat quicken at the sight of the utter confusion and panic in Chanyeol's face. It's like he's gone insane.

"Chanyeol, I-" Kai starts, his voice suddenly small and filled with early tears. He looks broken, too. 

"Don't. Fucking. Talk. About. Baekhyun," Chanyeol says, voice suddenly dangerous. His eyes are blazing and he stands tall, like he used to when facing an enemy. Chen fears stepping forward and stopping him, so he doesn't. He feels the air grow cold, ice creeping over the sheets as Xiumin sits up, ready to subdue Chanyeol's rage. "I just- I need..."

He looks so lost. Chen can feel tears welling up behind his eyes. He wants to help desperately, but he doesn't know what to do. It's endlessly frustrating. 

"He left me?" 

Chen feels himself go numb. He already knows the answer, and the answer doesn't hurt. The question, the hopelessness of it, however, tears him apart. The worst part is that it sounds like Chanyeol really doesn't know. 

"Chanyeol, please-" Chen chokes out, but he can't continue, pain blocking up his throat. God, he's been so fucking stupid to think he could hold this down. Baekhyun was his buddy, the one he could be weird around before Xiumin came along. And now he's gone and left his other person - the strong, happy Chanyeol - a mess. He feels like he's the only one left. 

"No!" Chanyeol's voice shoots up, and it's broken. Fuck, it's so broken. Tears slide wordlessly down Chen's cheeks, burning his cold skin. "No! Why would he leave me?!" 

Chanyeol's fists clench, and before Chen realizes what's happening, it's connected to the wall, and Chanyeol is crying out. His punch left his hand bloody and probably broken, judging from the loud crack Chen heard. Then he looks at the wall, and through the haze of tears he sees the crack there. The fucking wall broke. 

"NO!" Chanyeol screams, properly insane now. He tears at his hair, his blood leaving no trace in the already red mess. "No! I need Baekhyun! Why isn't Baekhyun here?"

Unfortunately, with the worst timing possible, Jimin walks into the room. She stills for a second, seeing the mess, but then she closes the door without a word, locking herself and everyone in. 

"Baekhyun!" Chanyeol's voice is hoarse, his eyes forever filled with tears that just won't spill. "Where is Baekhyun?"

He sags to the floor, looking more broken than Chen has ever seen him. Chen chokes back a sob, feeling Xiumin's cold hand close around his arm. 

But then Chanyeol looks up at him, and now Chen really is crying. There's so much hatred and devastation in those eyes that were once so happy, realization finally having hit Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol turns to Jimin, and  _fuck, why won't those tears just spill?_

"How do you stay sane?" Chanyeol asks. Chen can hear Kai sobbing quietly into Sehun's shoulder, and he can't say he's any different, his mouth hidden behind his hand and tears wetting his face. 

"It's easy," says Jimin calmly, crouching down in front of Chanyeol and placing a tentative hand on his shoulder. Her eyes are fierce, never leaving Chanyeol's. "You remind yourself, every day, who the bad guys are. Tell yourself, who's good, who's bad and you'll be alright."

Chanyeol nods, panic seeming to have left him. Chen gapes at Jimin. She stands, letting her gaze travel over the room. 

"Now," she says, "who's Baekhyun."

Chen wants to throw his shoe at her. He honestly thought she was smart, but apparently he was wrong. She looks around, not having realized what she just did. 

But to his surprise, Chanyeol doesn't do anything. Silence stretches in the room, nobody wanting to break the fragile moment peace Chanyeol seems to have found. Chen racks his brain for ways to tell Jimin without sending Chanyeol into another fit, but then someone else speaks up. 

"Baekhyun is..." Chanyeol says quietly, hesitantly, "one of the bad guys."

Chen sits there in shocked silence. 

He sits for the better part of an hour, watching Chanyeol and the others move on. 

He sits there when Xiumin softly calls his name. 

He sits there when the others get ready for bed. 

He's had to listen to Baekhyun pine after Chanyeol for  _years._ He's had to watch Chanyeol approach Baekhyun like it was nothing, laughing his ass off at some stupid joke Baekhyun made, slapping everyone around him. He's had to watch Chanyeol practically force Baekhyun to hang out with him, insisting that Baekhyun was the funniest guy in the garrison. He's watched their relationship grow into something akin to brothers, staying by Baekhyun's side every step of the way. He's had to be Baekhyun's shoulder to cry on when Chanyeol looked at some girl for too long. He's had to watch as Chanyeol took it upon himself to protect Baekhyun from  _everything,_ not knowing he was the biggest sourve of his pain. 

And now he's watched Chanyeol cast aside someone he's grown dependent on. Chen could barely handle it once, and he certainly can't handle it twice. 

So when Xiumin undresses him and pulls him into bed he doesn't say anything, only a few hums to questions asked. 

They lay there in the dark, listening to the steadying breathing of their teammates, neither falling asleep. 

"I'm sorry, Chen," Xiumin whispers suddenly. Chen snaps to attention, eyes immediately on Xiumin's glistening eyes. He can barely make out Xiumin's face in the dark, but he knows he's close. So close even that Chen suddenly feels his heart beat much too quickly. 

"What for?" Chen rasps. 

"I'm not as smart as Suho. I can't heal you like Lay. I couldn't even fight, for fuck's sake," Xiumin says miserably, lacing his hand with Chen's. Chen can tell he's been avoiding this talk for a while now. He's suddenly grateful. 

Chen has always known he's hopelessly in love with Xiumin. He knows Xiumin is in love with him, too. From the first time his heart stuttered during that first meeting with the other squad to the jealousy that settled in his heart every time Luhan and Xiumin seemed closer than just friends. 

"And I couldn't protect you just now," Xiumin says. "God, I've been so useless, and I'm just... I'm sorry, okay?"

Chen reaches up, brushing his fingers over Xiumin's cheeks, saying nothing. So this is what has been bothering Xiumin. Chen had been wondering and wondering, and he's honestly expected something similar to this. Xiumin's never been confident about his worth, even when people spell it out for him. It always saddens Chen, but it's oddly endearing at the same time, even if he wishes it would go away. 

"Minseok..." Chen says. He doesn't really know what to say. He knows he won't really feel him feel any better, and at the moment he doesn't really know what to believe - he's sure as hell not going to believe Chanyeol - so he says the only thing he does know to be true. "I love you, so, so much."

Xiumin's eyes widen, and he seems taken aback by the statement. But then he smiles, and presses forward, gently brushing his lips over Chen's.

It's everything Chen could wish from a first kiss. It's soft and yet demanding, making him a little giddy as they lie together in the dark, legs entwined and foreheads resting together. It's chaste, but Chen doesn't need any more than this.

For the moment, this is all he needs.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are always appreciated ;)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey hey hey

Sehun sits by the window still, staring blankly at the metal plating keeping him from being swallowed by rock. Jimin explained it to him - this part of the bunker used to be above ground, before the first collapses occurred. It’s by far his favorite spot in this entire place. He can almost feel the cool air that teased his skin three weeks ago, playing through his hair in short, cold bursts and cleansing his lungs from the chlorine and the bleach that had been plaguing him.  
  
He wants to taste that freedom again, desperately.

  
But it won’t happen, he knows. The rules here are too strict. Still, he dreams.  
  
The old stories Xiumin and Luhan used to tell him, of the times the grass was still green and the trees still grew leaves are a fond memory to him. Sehun doesn’t remember those times, but he always loved to listen and make up his own world. It also gave him the chance to spend time with Luhan, lying in the grass and fingers intertwined.  
  
He loved Luhan. He really did.  
  
Sehun sighs, shaking the happy memories from his head. They bring him nothing but sadness these days.

Suho says they should remember as much as they can about the _four_ they lost, but Sehun often finds himself excluding Baekhyun from his thoughts. He doesn’t want to remember the ditzy things Baekhyun would do to earn their trust back when the squads joined. He doesn’t want to remember the affection that often crossed Sehun’s lines of what he thought to be platonic, and the innocent face shining brightly at him.

All he remembers is Baekhyun’s arms wrapping around that woman’s waist as he kissed her, and the way _they_ screamed, crying out for help, telling Sehun to _run! Please, Sehun, just go!_  

Sehun suppresses a shiver, wrapping his arms around his body. The air in this tiny room seems to have dropped below freezing, suddenly, and Sehun shakes his head again. He’s just being stupid.

It’s been about an hour since he woke up, so Sehun figures the bell will go off soon. He braces his hand on the cool wall and hops off, landing smoothly on his feet. Then he smiles to himself, hearing the clang echo through the staircase. Anyone in the intelligence unit wouldn’t have made a sound – Luhan often complained Sehun walked like “a damn elephant, Sehun!”.

Sehun grins. He knows Luhan totally stole that line from Suho, who would always scold Kris when they were training together or going on more discreet missions, but he never minded. Not ‘till now, anyway.

Sehun has some regrets.

At least Suho got everything off his chest before… well.

_It happened just before they landed on Earth, and Sehun was lying awake, unable to sleep with the images of his home burning branded into his mind. He knew the others weren’t sleeping much either – he heard the occasional sniffle here and there from tears coming even in slumber. They’d already cried so much, having been stuck in that damned ship for several days, left with nothing but each other and their own thoughts._

_He heard it first, a raspy cry in the dark, quiet and poorly stifled. His eyes shot open, but he doesn’t move, already having perfect view of the room. In front of him, on the other uncomfortable bunk in the wall was Kris, hunched over so his massive frame fits in the tiny cube. It was hard to see in the darkened capsule, but Sehun saw the reflection of the dimmed lights on Kris’s glistening face. His eyes were puffy._

_“Kris?” Suho’s voice called out of the dark, not unsure but more careful and tender than Sehun had ever heard it. Of course, he could hear the tears behind Suho’s voice, too, but Suho had remained relatively stoic compared to the chaos that ensued on the ship. “Kris, is that you?”_

_“…Yeah,” Kris said, his whisper hoarse and broken. “I’m sorry, did I wake you?”_

_Sehun took care to slow his breathing, taking in long, deep gasps of air. He knew Suho was far more observant than Kris, and that he’d have to be vigilant from now on._

_Suho appeared in Sehun’s line of vision, his expression soft and pitying. He’d only ever seen this face on Suho a few times, but it scared the hell out of him. Still, Sehun remained silent as Suho sat beside Kris, laying a comforting hand on his back and letting Kris lean awkwardly against his shoulder._

_“I can’t pretend to know what you’re going through,” said Suho after a drawn-out silence, “but know that I’ll always be here, okay?”_

_“What do you mean you don’t know?” asked Kris, his voice far steadier and calmer than it was before. Kris just was the type to calm quickly. “You had family, too.”_

_“I haven’t talked to them in years, Kris,” said Suho, sounding exasperated and light – a tone he only ever used for Kris. Sehun had to resist the urge to both smile and burst into tears at the same time._

_“Yeah, but still.”_

_“You’re my only family.” There it was. Suho’s voice had gone quiet, softer than even a whisper, and he looked down on his hands uncertainly. Even watching from the bottom bunk, gazing up at the two people who practically raised him, Sehun knew Suho meant it in every sense of the word. Kris, the one loved by Suho._

_“I love you, too.”_

_Sehun closed his eyes, already knowing what Suho’s face would look like when Kris kissed him._

Their relationship, like Xiumin and Chen, always kind of seemed like a given. They spent so much time together, that the rest of the unit had started placing bets on whether they were dating or not. It wasn’t like anything changed between them after that, just like nothing has changed between Xiumin and Chen. All that’s been added to their relationship is that now they press kisses to each other’s temples from time to time and whisper ‘I love you’ s to each other in the dark when they think everyone else has gone to bed.

Sehun never said anything to Luhan.

Of course, Baekhyun – the self-proclaimed relationship specialist – had always pointed out every bit of affection Luhan showed him. Baekhyun gave Sehun tips on how to deal with it, despite Sehun frequently pointing out that Baekhyun always became an awkward, fumbling mess when Chanyeol showed any form of affection other than slapping him when he laughed.

Sehun scoffs. Fucking hypocrite.

Baekhyun would always console him in the beginning – immediately noticing the way Sehun looked when Luhan and Xiumin went off the run around at night, or when Luhan plastered himself to Xiumin side like he always did – saying no man was worth his happiness and all the usual bullshit. Sehun hated it then – mostly because, after Kai, Baekhyun was the most jealous person Sehun ever met – and he hates it now.

He sighs. At least Chanyeol has come back around.

He still hasn’t really thanked Jimin for that. After all, she was the one who came up with the phrases Chanyeol has been refraining from saying these past few days.

_Who’s good and who’s bad is what matters._

It was, at first, like she snapped him out of a trance. Sehun had seen the confusion on his best friend’s face when she said those words, the way his brow pinches together when his gaze fixed on the pretty face staring up at him.

But, to be honest, Sehun isn’t sure if he really wants to thank her.

A loud, nearly-familiar ringing noise snaps him out of his thoughts, and Sehun scowls. It’s not like they’re doing actual jobs, so there shouldn’t be any point in them reporting and staying at the bridge the entire day. Sehun, and everyone else except perhaps Chanyeol and Kai, is painfully aware of the fact that they’re being monitored at all times.

Sehun suddenly regrets spending all his time training on Exo. If he’d studied more, learned more skills besides the most efficient ways to kill or controlling the whirlwind of power residing in his body, he might actually be of help here. Lay, Kyungsoo and Suho – they’ve got actual jobs.

Lay’s been in high demand by the med-bay, never once using his power and yet always helping people. Sehun vividly remembers Jimin’s confusion when Lay turned out to know a lot of things, and though Sehun was worried at first, Lay’s been playing dumb really well. He makes it seem like the only thing that makes him a good medic is his steady hands and not his cunning mind.

Suho is a master strategist, and though Sehun can follow him sometimes, he’s often lost in the difficult procedures and plans to help provide for the bunker and taking down the lab. Xiumin helps, of course, but Sehun can tell he’s frustrated. Xiumin’s hella smart, but he lacks the ability to go from big picture to details quickly that strategists like Suho need. 

Kyungsoo’s crafty in the kitchen, so that’s where he spends most of his time in an attempt to improve the bland meals here.

The rest of them have been cooped up and put into a corner, Sehun thinks bitterly as he swiftly descends the metal stairs, his footsteps echoing in the silence. He often finds himself pacing the bridge like a caged tiger, and it annoyed Suho to the point where he asked Commander Carney if he coud send the five of them down to the training deck.

Sehun falters. That’s right, Commander Carney approved it. Today will be the first day he gets to spend actually moving around. A grin breaks over his face as excitement takes over his body.

He might finally be able to beat Chanyeol!

It’s been a competition ever since Sehun signed on to the cosmic military. He could never beat Chanyeol in a head-to-head fight, but they always challenged each other anyway. It became a sort of game between them, and Sehun knew there were bets going around in their unit. It never bothered him – it bolstered his confidence, even.

 _After I beat Chanyeol, maybe I’ll be able to beat Xiumin,_ Sehun thinks giddily. He shakes his head, pushing through the heavy doors and stepping into the hallway. He’d never be able to beat Xiumin in a fight like this – he sure no one will.

It’s like Chanyeol said yesterday. Pure force is nothing in the face of strategy and strategy is nothing in the face of pure force. Xiumin is what Sehun likes to call a perfect combination of both. He’s deadly – a demon on the field. It’s not like any of the others are purely one thing or the other – Chanyeol has been leaning more toward the strength end, whereas Kyungsoo’s specialty is technique. It’s just that Xiumin is both their strongest and the one with the best technique.

Sehun shakes the thoughts from his head and makes his way through the bustling corridor. He waves back at a few people, smiling shyly when they call his name and say hello. He still hasn’t gotten used to the fact that everyone knows everyone here, though it wasn’t any different back in the cosmic military. Social people like Chanyeol and Chen thrive in places like this, but it isn’t made for Sehun.

Despite his attempts not to be, Sehun is sunken in thought once again, and he yelps softly when something bumps into his thigh. He looks down bewilderedly, and sees a little girl with silver hair and big, round eyes staring up at him, a towel smudged with grime and snot clutched in her small hand, her overall far too big for her tiny body.

“Sehunnie?” she asks, and Sehun crouches down to hear her better, though it’s awkward with the crowd pushing past him. He’s a little bewildered, and he’s not terribly great with kids like Chen, Lay and Kai are, but her round cheeks and small voice strike pity in him. Besides, she knows his name already, though Sehun has never spoken to her in his life. She leans forward, placing a warm hand on his knee and crowding in close to reach his ear. “Sehunnie, where’s Jiminnie? She’s not with Commander.”

Sehun wonders for a moment what a little girl like her might want with someone as high in rank as Jimin, but there’s an urgency in her eyes that puts him off.

“Sure,” he says, but he’s got no fucking clue where Jimin is or what he should do with the child. If Jimin is not with Carney, then she’s not on the bridge. He rubs his palms together awkwardly. He’s not sure how he should act, if he should pick her up or something like that. Apparently, the girl has her own ideas, because she grasps Sehun’s frankly massive hand in her own tiny one and pulls him along with her.

Sehun wouldn’t have minded if he didn’t have to bend down almost completely just to hold her hand, his back quickly beginning to ache uncomfortably. The girl drags him to the nearest elevator, pointing at the button with a small frown on her face. The button is at Sehun’s chest level, so obviously she can’t reach it.

“Where do you think she is?” Sehun asks, desperately hoping the girl has some vague ideas. He suspects the girl knows he’s got nothing to do, and that she’s only using him to get somewhere, but he really doesn’t mind. In fact, he’s glad to have something to keep him busy.

“The training grounds!” the girl chirps, tugging excitedly on his hand, jumping up and down. Sehun wonders for a moment if this is how the others see him – small, excitable and a little annoying – seeing as they’ve called him a child often enough. He scoffs to himself and lets the girl drag him into the elevator, stumbling a little.

However, the elevator quickly fills up, and Sehun finds himself pressed up against the wall by far too many bodies in identical overalls. The girl lets out a suffocated sound, and for a second Sehun wonders what it means. Then he realizes that she probably can’t breathe very well, her back pressed to Sehun’s thighs and her face surrounded by several hips.

Reluctantly and hesitantly, he bends down and picks her up, hooking his hands under her arms and on her ribs. He places her on his hip, which turns out to be the most comfortable for the both of them. Her hands bunch his collar, and she leans her head on his shoulder, sleep obviously still in her system.

Sehun shifts uncomfortably, but he doesn’t have the heart to put her back on the ground once they’ve reached their level, so he keeps his hold on her. It’s not like she weighs very much anyway.

He walks onto the training ground out of the elevator, probably looking stupid as hell with a fucking child on his hip, but at the moment he can’t find himself to care. Not when he feels soft, warm hands play with his ear, folding it over and poking it curiously. He refrains from laughing by biting his tongue, but it really tickles and it’s kind of… cute.

“Do you see her?” Sehun asks, a bit of a redundant question, seeing as his eyes are probably far better than this kid’s. The girl peers around the room, her eyes narrowed to slits.

“Nope,” she says, turning up her nose and shaking her head. The gesture sends a flurry of warmth spreading through Sehun, but he shakes it off. Can’t go soft, now.

Kai, his nose for these kinds of things scarily sharp, snaps around in the distance, halting in the middle of throwing a sharp-looking knife at a dummy. Sehun locks eyes with him, and Kai breaks into a grin, dropping the knife and jogging towards them. His eyes twinkle the way they always do when he sees a child.

“Hello there!” Kai says enthusiastically, waving one hand in the air. He smiles sweetly, his eyes scrunching nearly shut in that way Sehun has almost forgotten. Almost. “What’s your name?”

Sehun could just about slap himself. He fucking forgot to ask her name.

“Ah Ro,” she says, grinning toothily. Sehun is taken aback at how open she is – he certainly wasn’t, as a kid – but then he remembers how she approached him in the first place. Kai coos softly and she buries her face in the crook of Sehun’s neck, giggling cutely.

“Hello there, Ah Ro,” says Kai in the most sweetly disgusting voice ever – the same one he talks to Kyungsoo in. “My name is Kai.”

“I know,” says the girl a little rudely, but Kai pays no mind to it. Instead he looks at Sehun and pinches his brow together dramatically. Sehun has to refrain from rolling his eyes, and he adjusts his grip on Ah Ro’s tiny body.

“Aigoo,” says Kai. Sehun blinks at that, not having heard the term in, well, a while. “Bet Sehunnie hasn’t been treating you very well.” Sehun scowls, both at the nickname and the implication he’s terrible with children – which, granted, he is. “Why don’t you come with me instead?”

Kai holds out his arms, and Sehun already finds himself moving to pass Ah Ro to Kai, but Ah Ro seems to have other ideas. She clings to Sehun’s neck, turning away from Kai and her playful smile turning into a pout.

“No!” she says, stubbornly swatting away Kai’s hands. Kai looks taken aback, his eyes full of surprise. Sehun holds back a snicker and shrugs. He gets why Kai is so surprised – Sehun is usually the reason kids randomly burst into tears. Something about his face always seems to scare them.

“Ah Ro!”

Sehun looks up to see Jimin walking towards them, her pretty face split into a wider grin than Sehun has ever seen from her. It’s unadulterated glee that’s one her face, and Sehun finds himself smiling too. He catches himself, though, and frowns.

This time Ah Ro does hold out her chubby hands, and Jimin swoops her up in her arms, giggling along with her.

Maybe it’s the confused looks on their faces, but Jimin casts one glance at Sehun and Kai and bursts out laughing, holding Ah Ro close to her.

“This is my sister,” Jimin explains, brushing some stray strands of silver hair from Ah Ro’s face, watching her with a fond look in her face. “Well, we have the same mother, at least. Did you bother Commander Carney again?”

Ah Ro shakes her head, then she focuses on Jimin’s ears, folding them the same way she did Sehun’s.

“How old is she?” Kai asks, looking absolutely smitten with the girl. Sehun scoffs. It’s not as if anything else can be expected from him. Kai has a weak spot for anything small and cute, Sehun has found.

“She’s actually one of our youngest. She’s three.”

Sehun frowns. How could a three-year-old be one of the youngest in a population nearing seven-hundred?

“We had a population control policy installed a couple years ago,” Jimin explains. “The thing with a base like this is that we’ve got very limited space and supplies. We can’t just keep expanding.”

Sehun nods. That makes sense.

“So why were you looking for me?” Jimin asks to Ah Ro.

“Commander told me to go away,” Ah Ro says, not a trace of guilt in her voice or face. Sehun’s surprised at how articulate she is, but then he thinks that if she’s half as smart as her sisters then it’s really not a big feat.

Jimin scoffs out a laugh, rolling her eyes. “Well, I’m training with Chanyeol right now-“ Sehun and Kai share a knowing glance. “-so you’re gonna have to find something to do.”

Without another word Jimin walks away to the mats, where Chanyeol stands, waiting for her to return. Sehun spots the surprise on Chanyeol’s face, but then he turns away to face Kai.

“Oh my god!” Kai finally bursts, excitedly hopping up and down. Sehun laughs. “She’s so _tiny!_ She’s literally shorter than your legs!”

Sehun bursts into a fresh wave of laughter as he spots Chanyeol standing next to Ah Ro, her tiny frame barely noticeable next to his massive one. It’s comical, really, how much smaller she looks next to him. Kai laughs, having seen it, too.

“Who is?”

Kai falls silent immediately, but it takes Sehun a moment longer to realize who is was who spoke. He turns to see Kyungsoo, folding up his apron and wiping his wet hands on his overall. Kyungsoo glances past Sehun, but one small sound from Kai pulls attention away.

Sehun looks at Kai, his eyes widening at the angry hurt he sees there. He’s aware that Kai is no longer mad about the whole rant thing, so he doesn’t understand why he’s still so wary of Kyungsoo.

Something flickers in Kyungsoo’s eyes very akin to regret, but he masks it quickly, his training no doubt kicking in. He gives a polite nod to Sehun, which is returned, but then he stalks off, not sparing Kai another glance, leaving Sehun completely dumbfounded.

“What the hell is going on between you two?” Sehun asks after a few second, just so he knows Kyungsoo can’t hear him. He’s a little offended Kai hasn’t told him anything – after all, they used to tell each other just about anything, along with Chanyeol and Tao.

Kai hesitates, and he’s obviously fighting back tears. Sehun almost regrets asking.

“I told him I loved him.”

Oh.

_Oh._

Sehun has had to watch Kai pine from a distance for _years._ He listened to countless stories all ranging from _Oh god, Sehun, he’s so cute!_ to _God, Sehun, I think he’s trying to kill me._ He thinks it was getting about time Kai told Kyungsoo about his slight infatuation.

“And?” Sehun almost doesn’t have to ask, but he needs to be certain. It’s not like Kai to get angry, after all. He just gets sad.

“He didn’t exactly let me down easy,” Kai says with a sigh. He _is_ sad, Sehun realizes. There’s no anger in his words, no resentment. Only regret. The anger is just an act he puts up to throw off Kyungsoo. Sehun doubts ‘Soo is fooled by any of it, his training allowing to pick up lies faster than Sehun ever can, but it’s probably easier for Kai this way.

“Shit, man, I’m sorry,” is all Sehun can offer. He knows it’s lame, but he can’t bring himself to be angry at Kyungsoo.

He can’t bring himself to be angry at anyone anymore.

He noticed it a week or so back, when his training was rudely interrupted by Carney. He only complied, not flaring up like he usually would. All he feels is apprehension.

Then again, he supposes that’s what happens when your anger is reserved for someone else.

* * *

 Sehun can’t sleep. 

His mind is restless, always reverting back to _what if he’d done things differently._ It burns him inside, filling him with rage and prickling his skin. He wonders what would have happened if he’d stayed with Kris, Tao and Luhan that night. When he saw their limbs being torn so ruthlessly from their bodies and their horrified screams filled his ears as he ran. Kris had commanded him to do so, but still he feels he shouldn’t have. He wonders what would have happened if he hadn’t aimed Xiumin’s icicles at the wall but at _that_ woman, or at Baekhyun, before he betrayed them.

He turns over, facing the empty spot next to him on the bed. Chanyeol is out, again, but Sehun isn’t surprised. He knows Chanyeol needs space, now more than ever. He knows what goes on in Chanyeol’s head, never letting him sleep. Sure, he doesn’t burst in a raging fit anymore, but his mind is far from peaceful.

Maybe that is what has angered Sehun the most.

Chanyeol has always been there for Sehun. From whenever Sehun used to watch Luhan from a distance to when he struggled with his techniques. Chanyeol is his best friend, and though he was strictly forbidden to do so by the higher-ups, he’s always acted like a hyung.

It infuriates Sehun to think that Baekhyun, someone they all trusted, someone who was closer to Chanyeol than anyone likely ever will be, has left Chanyeol in pieces.

That is why Sehun has decided to kill him. He wants to kill Baekhyun.

As quietly as possible, Sehun gets up, careful not to ruffle the sheets too much. He hasn’t changed out of his overalls anyway, so he doesn’t have to deal with that. He sneaks out of bed, picking up his shoes and stalking to the door, his footsteps muffled by his socks. The door doesn’t groan when he opens it, thank god, and it doesn’t click loudly when he closes it.

There’s no curfew – most people are too tired usually to think about sneaking out – so Sehun doesn’t have to worry about cameras spotting him like he did on Exo.

Sehun sneaks to the staircase, heart hammering in his chest. This door doesn’t creak either.

Sehun lets out a relieved breath he didn’t know he’d been holding, but immediately after he stills, suddenly aware he’s not alone.

Voices. Hushed ones.

They come from the flight beneath him. Unable to fight his curiosity, Sehun sneaks down, suddenly grateful he decided not to wear his shoes just yet.

Sehun gasps. At the bottom of the stairs, with their backs to him, are Chanyeol and Jimin, sitting close together. He can’t see their faces, but it’s undoubtedly them. Chanyeol’s red mess he calls hair is unmistakable, and Jimin’s silver hair can’t be found anywhere else either.

They’re quiet, so Sehun has to strain to listen to what they’re saying.

“-you know it wasn’t your fault,” Jimin says, her voice gentle and understanding, yet firm. Chanyeol coughs.

“But what if it was?” Chanyeol’s voice is miserable, but Sehun doesn’t have to look at him to know he’s not crying. Sehun hasn’t seen tears spill from Chanyeol’s eyes in ages – since their planet got destroyed, probably. “If I’d been a better friend, maybe he wouldn’t have…” Chanyeol breaks off there, making a defeated noise.

“Hey,” says Jimin, probably sensing the distress as well as Sehun can hear it. His ears have been attuned to Chanyeol for years, but Jimin is almost as observant as Lay. “You hadn’t seen him in weeks, remember?” With a shock Sehun realizes they’re talking about Baekhyun. “He just didn’t realize you’d do anything for him.”

Sehun knows it’s true. Baekhyun may have loved Chanyeol in a way Chanyeol didn’t love Baekhyun, but nobody in their squad would have said Baekhyun cared more about Chanyeol than Chanyeol cared about Baekhyun.

“Look,” Jimin says, and Sehun is taken aback by how nervous she sounds. She’s not scared – Sehun has seen her be threatened with ‘severe punishment’ when she was caught sneaking out food to bring to Xiumin when he was still bedridden and she hadn’t even flinched then – but she’s definitely nervous about something. “I realize I haven’t known you very long, but I’m sure if the circumstances were any different, you’d be incredibly funny. You’re so smart and you care so much, Chanyeol. I can assure you that whatever Baekhyun would’ve chosen, it wouldn’t have been your fault.”

Though Sehun wholeheartedly agrees with what she’s saying, he can’t say he likes the way she says it. Apparently Chanyeol noticed something off, too, because he stills. Jimin doesn’t waver, though, and she slowly leans in closer. Chanyeol doesn’t move away.

“It wasn’t your fault,” Jimin says, her voice barely a whisper. Then she leans in and presses her lips to Chanyeol’s, and Chanyeol doesn’t pull away.

Sehun, unable to watch any more, quietly moves up the stairs again. He doesn’t stop until he’s all the way at the top, a whirl of emotions twisting his gut. He can’t tell why, but something about Jimin and Chanyeol like this makes him even angrier. His veins are on fire, but there’s a sobering cold in his heart.

He shakes his head, focusing himself on what’s important again.

Time to kill Baekhyun.

* * *

 

Getting out of that bunker was far easier than Sehun had anticipated. All he really had to do was force open the hatch at the top of the staircase - Sehun doesn’t know why it’s there but he’s infinitely grateful - with a powerful burst of wind, making sure not to let the hatch clatter and then propel himself out of there. 

He’d gasped in the crisp air again, which was significantly colder than before.

Getting to the lab had taken less time than last time. Cars were slower than wind, anyway, and he didn’t have to stop in front of guards who never looked up anyway.

Finding the place was easy, too, because it’s frankly massive. Far bigger than Sehun remembers it being on the inside, but then he supposes he’s never seen the entirety of the maze, anyway.

It’s like a dreary block of concrete.

There’s no guards anywhere, so Sehun strides up to the door, ignoring the way every instinct in him screams for him to run, or the frantic beating of his heart that won’t slow down no matter how much he wills it to.

Oh. Sehun frowns.

In front of him, where they nearly raised hell not three weeks ago, destroying an entire bay door, nearly collapsing the sturdy roof, stands a perfectly fortified structure. The door, somehow, has been rebuilt not only to what it was before, but seemingly enhanced with more heavy beams. There’s no way they could have done that so quickly, Sehun thinks somewhere in the back of his mind.

He shakes his head. No need to dwell on that now.

He steps up to the door and raises one hand back. He thrusts it forward, calling the wind to him. It slams into the door, and sound echoes through the bay loudly, rattling the vehicles and travelling over the valleys that lay beyond it.

Then he waits.

They only leave him out there for about ten minutes, though. The doors open, and three droids step out. Sehun suppresses a shiver, their identical faces sending the not-so-faint memories flooding back to him.

“Subject number ninety-four,” says the droid in front, her voice impassive and robotic as it always was. Of course they would still have him in their databases, why would they not? It’s just surprising that he’s not listed as a threat, but then Sehun realizes that maybe they’ve always been listed as dangerous. “Mr. Byun is expecting you.”

Sehun barely keeps himself from gasping out loud.

Mr. Byun.

Not subject number four.

Then he scoffs. Of course that traitor isn’t a fucking subject anymore. He’s doing the one who’s directing all of this. She probably wouldn’t like her fuck toy to be cut up in pieces by the time it reaches her chambers.

The droids turn around and walk into the maze of rooms, and Sehun follows, hoping desperately his reluctance isn’t shown.

The halls are quiet.

There’s no screams. No whizzing of machines intended to do them harm. No rushing sounds of fire or water or wind, no crackling and breaking of lightning or ice, no snaps and rumbles of earth and space as his friends lose control over their bodies.

It’s chilling. Sehun wishes, vaguely, he could at least hear something.

Nothing. Just the clicks of the droid’s heels and the much duller thuds of his boots and his breathing, which is far too loud.

They lead him into a part of the lab Sehun has never been to before. The halls are exactly the same here – all grey walls and metal doors with tiny windows that seem to stare at him like eyes. Sehun focuses on the floor, unable to take the memories that come with these doors. He lets his mind daze.

He barely notices it when he’s led into a room, one far brighter than the halls. He blinks, the light too much for his eyes. The first thing he sees are white pillars about a meter from the dark walls. A bit redundant, Sehun thinks.

Then he sees the rest of the room. It’s completely white. The pillars, the floor, the ceiling, the huge table in the middle and the chairs surrounding it. Sehun stumbles forward, his boots too fucking loud on the floor.

What is all this?

There are enough chairs for at least twelve people, all seemingly made of wood painted white. Sehun lets his hand rest on one of them, fingers tracing over the elaborate carvings and palm relishing in the surprisingly soft feeling. His gaze travels over the table, and the many foods set up on. The plates and cutlery are white, but the foods are the most colorful things Sehun has seen in this place.

There’s a golden, roasted turkey, and white platters of strange fruits. There’s cheeses Sehun doesn’t recognize and desserts that make his mouth water against his will. Delicate dishes carefully put together line the table, but Sehun reminds himself it’s probably all here to lure him in. He’s here for one reason only.

“Sehun.”

Sehun whirls around, and he lets wind billow around his feet. There, in front of him, with a peculiar, carefully neutral expression on his face, is Baekhyun.

The traitor.

Sehun lets his gaze travel over Baekhyun’s body, which is far different from what he remembers it to be. For one thing, his cheeks aren’t so horribly hollow anymore, and his hair isn’t some lifeless mop of black anymore,

Secondly, his clothes are black.

A black, crisp, leathery-looking jacket over a black shirt and the same pants he used to wear, but only black.

Not white.

It infuriates him.

Baekhyun watches him carefully for a second, scrutinizing him, but then he sits at the head of the table, seemingly so unbothered.

“Why are you here, Sehun?” His voice is calm. Sehun hates everything about it.

“How dare you,” Sehun seethes, barely able to keep from shouting. “How dare you leave us behind.”

“I’m not the one who left anyone, Sehun,” says Baekhyun, picking a perfectly red apple from the platter and taking a small bite. Chewing, he regards Sehun coldly before speaking again. “I’ve been in the same place for months.”

Sehun wants to rip his head off.

“You betrayed us!” Sehun’s voice, for fuck’s sake, breaks with the effort not to kill Baekhyun right there and then. Sehun wants - no, _needs_ \- an explanation before he kills him. He needs something to tell Chanyeol when he gets back. He needs proof nobody could have done anything about it. “Why did you betray us?!”

Baekhyun’s face betrays nothing. He merely shrugs. “Judy gave me more than any of you could have.”

Sehun sees red. Baekhyun really doesn’t care, does he?

“What about Chanyeol?”

There is it. The first crack in Baekhyun’s mask. He stills in the middle of raising the apple to his lips again, his expression unreadable.

“What about him?” Baekhyun tries to sound casual, uninterested, but for the first time Sehun can see right through him. He’s struck a nerve. Sehun considers smiling smugly, but he’s far too angry for it.

“You _love_ him!” Sehun says desperately, hoping to at least get more of a reaction than _this_. There’s no point in Baekhyun trying to deny it – in fact, it would be stupid if he did. The amount of times Baekhyun gushed about Chanyeol to _anyone,_ is phenomenal, really.

“I did.” Baekhyun takes a bite of the apple again. “But now he’s no different from you.”

That’s it. Sehun got his answer.

Rage boils in his veins, and Sehun seethes. He sees red, and his hands tremble. He grits his teeth, feeling the power build up in his limbs. Fucking bastard. Disgusting traitor.  Byun Baekhyun deserves to die.

And so Sehun lets go.

Plates fly in every direction, chairs fall and elaborate dishes are ruined. It’s a whirlwind in a tiny room. It’s chaos, but Baekhyun isn’t fazed. Sehun pushes further. He calls the wind to him, rattling the table and cracking the pillars, but Baekhyun doesn’t move. Instead, he just takes another bite from his fucking apple. Sehun can’t take it.

“Tsk, tsk, Sehunnie,” says Baekhyun, and there’s a glint in his eyes now that makes Sehun’s heart stop. It’s like Xiumin’s ice spreads through his veins. Sehun’s wind stops cold. “You wouldn’t want the others to die like the ones before you, right?”

Sehun stills.

“W-What?” Fuck. 

“Those other ‘survivors’,” Baekhyun says, mock evident in his voice. Sehun’s heart races uncomfortably. “They died, all so mysteriously, after three weeks. Three weeks exactly.” Baekhyun smiles, and it’s the most horrible thing Sehun has ever seen. And he’s seen so much.

He doesn’t need to be told twice. 

He runs.

He runs faster than he’s ever run.

He  _has_ to run because Jimin lied to them.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments are always appreciated ;)


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